Saħħar

Saħħar started as the brainchild of Marton Saliba, with a focus on creating harsh and extreme music which coincided with Black Metal. Some of the tracks were raw and blast-beat fueled while others took a more mid-tempo approach while layered with synth and samples, and sometimes a blend in between. Saħħar’s first demo (Genesis of Demise) and album (Maġija Sewda) a year later were received locally and the greater underground scene in the myspace days with varied interest. 

Following a well-received split (Thine Triumphant Death) and subsequent album which was never truly released, Saħħar went on an indefinite hiatus. It was in 2013 that Saħħar came back with a vengeance with his folklore and mid-tempo and synth-heavy EP (Mera Mkissra). This was followed by a slew of EPs and Albums, averaging a release per year until 2020, the pandemic bringing everything to an unfortunate halt whilst still writing and preparing new music in the studio ready to be released at the opportune time.

The album launch of the 2015 Album (Kruha u Kefrija) also marked the first of Saħħar’s live performances, which culminated in Opening/Supporting acts for Destroyer 666, Black Metal Legends Mayhem, and industrial titans Gothminister. During the pandemic, Saħħar was busy recording online shows for Malta's first online stream, Metal Injection’s ‘Slayathome’ series and the online festival Grimfest.

In early 2020, Saħħar was nominated in the Malta Music Awards in the ‘Metal’ category and ‘Album in Maltese’ category. In late 2022, Saħħar embarked with a few trusted friends/session musicians on his first tour which spanned 9 consecutive days over 4 countries (Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania) resulting in a thrilling and quite successful adventure.

Saħħar is best described as ‘Ruinous’ Black Metal, where it describes his inclusion of larger-than-life symphonies, contrasted with minimal, almost doom-like riffs, all the way up to tremolo-intense barrages to synth/sample ambient tracks, giving a wide range of black metal to be savoured in the 100+ song discography.

Lyrical themes vary from occult/folklore fusion to the death of an individual to genocidal to misanthropic cataclysms.

At the time of writing, Saħħar is open for booking both locally and overseas and is working on a new album which is tentatively scheduled for release in the 3rd quarter of 2023. As a person, Saħħar maintains a professional no-nonsense attitude while still remaining interactive and appreciative of fans and followers.