It all started back August/2003, when Ghassan met up with Ahmed in Rotana’s music store, where Ahmed works. It was clear they shared an appreciation of metal music in general and doom in particular, they met few times later ,discussed the local metal scene in Saudi Arabia ”which is unknown widely”, and the possibility of having a mid success band, they wanted to start something but due to circumstances they did not . October/2004, in a moment of pure impulse Ahmed called Ghassan it seemed completely out of the blue since the two have not spoken nor met in such a long time .

Immediately Ahmed started off by proposing the idea of starting a band again, they met up a few hours later Not wasting anytime and got down to working on the bands theme and headlines ,their determination was visible. Ahmed assigned song writer/lead vocal. Ghassan lead Guitarist. Ghassan suggested (Emad-Wasted land) as a drummer.

The serious work started with a song entitled (The house of gloomy Anna), rehearsing sessions lasted for weeks ,passionate and eager they began working on another track (Which was Un-named) during this time they were looking for a name to suit the band’s attitude, they came up with a few names such as (Weeping Winter, Dark Vision) But it felt unoriginal. Little they knew their name was already there ”Grieving Age” it was picked up from their own music lyrics the three agreed. While working on their single, they met Abdullah, They liked the way he played the piano and approached him with their band’s idea in a few days he joined playing on the keyboards.

Ghassan again made a suggestion but this time for a second guitarist, he thought who better for the job than Ayman(wasted land) ,He accepted and was welcomed. For some reason they neglected the two first songs, and chose to focus on their new one, titled (My River).

Looking to record they went to Yazid-drummer of Panjiah ”another Local band” , Along with Khalid(ex-Panjiah’s guitarist)which worked on the song as a sound engineer/producer, It was complete during one month end of Feb/2005. Re-titled under the name of (My Hopeless River) By that time Diya came from Al-Dhahran and joined the band as a rhythm guitarist/violinist, while Ayman held the bass position. My hopeless River received great reviews from the metal fans in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Lebanon.

Working on their second project entitled (Have I sinned); they got back to their doom/death metal roots which were clearly their influenced by ”My Dying Bride and Old Anathema”. Diya’s impression was so obvious on this song, He did an astonishing job. The song was recorded as a live demo. Well known by now in the local metal scene the band got an invitation to perform in the SA Metal gig they couldn’t make it according to the band ”they didn’t have time”,

The line up has been settled for a while till they started working on the third track previously entitled, (A nightmare within a nightmare) And recently (Nocturnal realm of desolation), Mohammed Shata joined the band as a bassist after Aymans deparute to focus more on Wasted Land,Mohammed lasted for a short time then he left because some personal problems and Ayman came back again.

At the moment our favorite bands are the same bands we used to listen 10 years ago which are My Dying Bride,Anathema,Mourning Beloveth,Novembre,November’s Doom,Swallow The Sun,Candlemass,Black Sabbath,Morbid Angel,Suffocation,Obituary and Neurosis.

My Dying Bride and Anathema totally changed us! We formed Grieving Age because of love we have toward their Doom,Cheers and thanks for all the great efforts they did

Well , I didn’t have a direct path to seek in writing the lyrics but usually it carries a lot of death and darkness! I get inspired by the ancient history specially the mythologies.

Each member brings his own idea and thoughts of the next song and we sit together and see how we can develop the basic idea.
We do all involve in music compositions  ,e ach member works on his own instrument, me personally take the duty of writing the lyrics.

If you truly a Doom Death fan and love the long songs with no sense of sweetness and mercy then here is your record 

Dealing with those 2 gentlemen were the best expierence ever! 2 professional, humble and genius musicians! We are totally happy about the results and I believe Dan Swano reached the sounds of our dreams.
For the artwork I prefer leaving it puzzled and let the listener guessing what the hell all about . I don’t wanna guide people ,let them see what they want to see and explain what they want to explain.

At the moment the situation is kinda messy, no live concerts or support we still trying to dig our way out with the other bands, but oh well hopefully things get changed anytime soon.

We have a very good  underground bands and I personally love them and appreciate their music! Such as Deathless Anguish, Wasted Land, Immortal Pain, Sound Of Ruby, Creative Waste and Sandstoned.

Yes we would like to tour live! Especially in Europe and Italy , I believe our music fits the European atmosphere more than anywhere else, plans are running but nothing confirmed yet but most probably in 2010.
Oh Novembre, hell yeah!!One of the best bands ever, Classica ( the album ) had a great influence in our music and style.

You can buy it via www.luggamusic.com and yeah we had a good response towards the album from the doom fans but definitely not all of them loved it, we received a handful criticisms specially about the songs length! lol

Thanks a lot for the nice interview we do appreciate it! And expect us anytime in 2010.

(A cura di Marco Squillino)