SHEHILI

3rd April: Myrath - Shehili (alternative folk metal, 2019)

Myrath have never blown me away, but I'm impressed with the longevity of their gimmick, because often bands that rely this heavily on a very specific sound tend to fizzle out. Even the leaders of so-called "oriental" metal, Orphaned Land, have started producing uninspired and by-numbers schlock, although their peak was much greater than Myrath's. This is no exceptional album, but it's a solid alt-metal outing with consistently chonky riffs and the inclusion of Arabic-scale melodies is almost seamless. They've definitely doubled down on the poppier approach that they've been leaning towards since Tales of the Sands, and I'm here for it, because those sort of Alladincore melodies work far better as hooks than as parts of Dream Theateresque wank.

6.1 (1st listen)

Part of my listening diary from my facebook music blog - www.facebook.com/TheExoskeletalJunction