Amro Zidan Maps the 'Ecstasy of Mania' on New Experimental LP

Alexandria-based artist Amro Zidan dives headfirst into the chaotic euphoria of manic episodes on his new experimental LP, 'Ecstasy of Mania'.

Across 18 tracks, Zidan blends frenetic rhythms, distorted noise, and industrial textures with trippy influences from Egyptian shaabi music. The project reframes mania not as a breakdown, but as a combustible source of creativity, if one dares to treat it as a companion.

The opener, 'Outta Control', plunges you straight into the frenzied impulses and disorganized thoughts of a manic state. A flurry of sped-up beats and abrasive textures clash with fleeting, aggressive tabla patterns. There’s no clear structure, only a raw, disorienting sonic spiral that mirrors the disorder within.

'On Bow Leg Eye', hallucinations come in with heavily processed, warped vocals drifting over glitchy melodic fragments and scattered percussive sounds. Meanwhile, the title track further escalates the chaos, fusing psychedelic shaabi keys with clanging metal and pulsing industrial rhythms.

'Dose Please (Argook El Gor3a)' brings in a moment of dark humor, sampling a one-liner from an Egyptian cult favourite comedy 'Wesh Egram'. But the joke quickly sours as jagged, deconstructed rhythms and industrial synths creep in, signaling tension, and perhaps the looming threat of a crash. By the time 'No Return' arrives with what sounds like broken radio transmission underlined by distorted basslines, evoking a descent into the abyss.