On 28 January 2026, Uraeuses came back to Alexandria, Egypt, for Alex Death Fest Vol. III, sharing the night with progressive metal band Regenesis.
The Cairo black metal band spoke to AFRICA.ROCKS through two co-founders: Anas Ayman (drums) and Omar Zakria (guitar, bass, vocals), who also leads the band’s musical direction and lyrical concepts.
“heavy music is still misunderstood by a lot of people”
Ayman and Zakria summed the night up in one line they posted after the set: “Beneath the Eye of Ra, we unleashed chaos.” When we asked what they meant, they went straight to the image behind it. “What happened that night felt bigger than a gig. It felt like a ritual, an invocation of the gods of ancient Kemet,” they tell AFRICA.ROCKS. “That line came from how we felt in that moment. In ancient Egyptian belief, the Eye of Ra stands for protection and creation, and it can bring destruction when balance is violated. That night, we shaped the set around that tension.”
“We weren’t trying to ‘perform chaos’ for spectacle. We were channeling the chaos that already exists inside people.”
When they say “chaos,” they’re not talking about shock value. They mean something internal, and familiar. “We weren’t trying to ‘perform chaos’ for spectacle. We were channeling the chaos that already exists inside people: suppressed anger, fear, exhaustion, and the quiet violence of modern life. ‘Beneath the Eye of Ra’ means standing exposed before a force that sees everything, judges nothing, and reacts only to imbalance.”
That’s also why they describe the show in almost physical terms, as release. “The music was our way of releasing that pressure, turning inner conflict into sound, movement, and ritual. For us, it wasn’t about darkness for its own sake, but about honesty. Chaos, in this sense, becomes a cleansing fire. Something raw, human, and necessary before any form of order can exist again.”
They add that “Beneath the Eye of Ra” is also the next single planned from the band’s forthcoming album.
From the stage, the Alexandria crowd felt tuned in fast. “This wasn’t our first time playing in Alexandria, this was the third time,” they say. “Alexandria’s crowd is really insane. Their energy and hype is unbeatable. You could sense that they weren’t just watching the performance, they were absorbing it. Extreme music needs that kind of exchange, and that night the energy moved both ways. What genuinely surprised us was how quickly the crowd locked in. There was a moment early in the set where the reaction wasn’t loud chaos yet, but a deep, collective concentration. Heads banging, bodies tense. That told us they understood what we were doing. From there, everything escalated naturally.”
The set leaned hard into the band’s current world, including several tracks from Slithering Through Ancient Catacombs and the upcoming single title.
Setlist (Alexandria, 28 Jan 2026)
Fire Dunes (Intro)
Origin of Sand Storms
Shedding the Skin (Interlude)
Into the Depths of Sepulchre
Chasm of Chaos (Intro)
Celestial War of the Underworld
Progenies of the Great Apocalypse (Dimmu Borgir cover)
Sacred Emblem on the Crown
Beneath the Eye of Ra
“While every track has its own power, the last two, ‘Sacred Emblem on the Crown’ and ‘Beneath the Eye of Ra’, hit with an intensity that was almost tangible from the stage,” they say.
Their one real curveball came after the set ended, when the crowd pushed for more. “The only unexpected moment was after we finished the set, the crowd was so intense that they asked for an encore,” Ayman says. “We played ‘Sacred Emblem on the Crown’ again, and in the middle of the track, my in-ear monitors went out completely. I couldn’t hear anything, but since I had the song memorised, I kept playing and finished the track without missing a beat. The crowd didn’t even notice, and the energy was insane.”
The Jesuit Cultural Center also shaped the feel of the set. “Playing there was incredible,” they tell AFRICA.ROCKS. “It’s not our first time there. We debuted at the venue back in 2022, but returning felt even more intense. The space has a reverent atmosphere that contrasts with the chaos of our music, and the acoustics carry every note with clarity.”
Zooming out, they see Egypt’s heavy scene as alive because it has to be. “People show up because they want to be there, not because it’s trendy,” they say. “Bands help each other out, share gear, promote each other’s shows, and the crowd gives real energy back.” They also feel bands are finding their own voice more now. “You can hear local character, experimentation, and younger musicians bringing a different mindset. Good venues and equipment aren’t always available, moving between cities takes real effort, and heavy music is still misunderstood by a lot of people. Financially it’s rarely comfortable. Nothing here is handed to you, so everything that grows comes from commitment.”
Now the band is moving straight into new material. “We’re preparing to release ‘Beneath the Eye of Ra’ as the next single from the upcoming album, along with visuals that expand its atmosphere,” they say. They’re also looking for label support for the single and the full release. “The goal now is simple: release more music, play more cities, and keep building the world of Uraeuses step by step.”
If you want to hear what they’re building towards, Uraeuses’ Slithering Through Ancient Catacombs is up on Bandcamp.
