MYRATH

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

Shehili sounds like the work of an average bunch of musicians when, undoubtedly, these guys are capable of exceptional tunes. With Desert Call, Myrath blew me away with a sublime mix of hard-hitting progressive metal with deeply woven arabic vocals/ intstrumentation that created a unique feeling of been drawn away into an exotic, far away land (and I'm Indian!). Everything about Desert Call was simply stunning, while Shehili sounds half-hearted and run-of-the-mill metal with a spattering of middle-eastern influences. While the background of synth laid down by Elyes Bouchoucha and the essentially metal riffs of Malek Ben Arbia go perfectly with Zaher Zorgatti's vocal histrionics, the most notable missing element are the thunderous/ complex/ intricate/ pounding drums and percussion of Saif Ouhibi to go with the growling bass lines of Anis Jouini. Shehili sounds like over-produced pop-metal - the majesty of Myrath seems to be long gone...please bring back the Myrath of Desert Call!

Metal is so well suited for cross pollinating with Mediterranean musical influences that, in the absence of any context, you could be forgiven for thinking metal originated in the Middle East. Specifically, it is the prevalence of the Phrygian dominant scale (i.e. the 5th mode of the harmonic minor scale) in both genres makes that makes it easy to imagine how passages from folksy Mediterranean and Arabic music can easily be converted into crushing metal riffs. On Tales of the Sands, Tunisian power prog darlings Myrath have capitalized on this affinity between the genres to great effect.

Unlike Myrath's stylistic peers Orphaned Land in neighboring Israel (represent), their music is not the most compositionally ambitious. Rather, the focus is on building catchy and infectious riffs and hooks. That Myrath succeeds in doing so across almost the entire 50-minute run time is impressive. Thanks to the slick production, there are times on this record where I feel I am listening to straight dance music. And it is absolutely awesome!

MYRATH return from its North African hideaway with the fifth album SHEHILI thus proving that this Tunisian band that has made a career out of mixing Middle Eastern folk music with metal is in no danger of going away any time soon. In fact this quintet plus session musicians has only become more famous internationally since its 2006 formation however despite the band's exotic flair that has caught the rest of the world's attention, these guys still don't resonate very much in their native lands. It's been three years since MYRATH released "Legacy" which found the band taking a softer less progressive approach than on the preceding "Hope," "Desert Call" and "Tales of the Sands." SHEHILI emulates "Legacy" with lush symphonically embellished power metal inspired metal tracks that wrap themselves around the classic Arab sounds of the Sahara.

Unlike MYRATH's earliest albums which focused on the metal aspects of the band's idiosyncratic fusion, SHEHILI continues the thick atmospheric cloud covers of "Legacy" and crafts more accessible pop hooks that take a blatant dip into the mainstream with catchy sing-songy melodic hooks with simpler compositional constructs that add some power metal heft but focus a lot of attention on more AOR flavors that demonstrates that the band is clearly going for the mainstream breakthrough jugular which is what makes this album a little weak compared to the earliest powerful displays of metal music that has now been tamed into one trick camel races all the way to the top of the charts.

On the positive side of things, vocalist Zaher Zorgati still delivers a powerful vocal charm and is perfect for the type of music that MYRATH has conjured up. The other winner is the strong symphonic string section that includes the usual menagerie of instruments such as the violin, viola and the new which is a Persian flute that is prominent in most forms of traditional Middle Eastern music. Also included are traces of lute and elegant piano arrangements that add touches of Western classical teased into the Eastern sounds. The symphonic touches overall are what define SHEHILI much more than the rather subordinate heavy rock aspects that barely even qualify for metal any longer. The production is also perfect as it allows each little sound to find its own space without intruding on the others.

Ah, i loved early MYRATH. The five-piece metal band from the far flung non-metal lands of Tunisia who dared conjure up metal mirages with local flavors. The early albums were powerful and delivered all the goods while weaving it all together in highly progressive ways. Most of those complexities have been replaced at this point with easy on the ears flavorings that keep most of the tracks sounding rather similar in approach. The formula is rather simple. Recycle the same Eastern musical scales, add a bit of guitar heft with the only occasional solo along with a rather subordinate bass and drum rhythm section. While Zorgati is clearly the star of the show with his passionate and intricately designed vocal style, the rest of the music falls rather flat compared to the earliest offerings.

MYRATH have obviously fallen into the trap that many bands do as they flirt with commercial success and by that they lose the passion that was generated in the beginning when the music was intended as a statement rather than a means of economic opportunity. While many bands find a way to balance these two acts by having a few more commercial tracks and some more sophisticated experimental and progressive ones, MYRATH have chosen to create a rather monotonic album's worth of 12 tracks where the overall feel of the individual songs doesn't really advance. It all sounds like a series of reshuffling with a few minor bursts of bombast for a little contrast. It's clear form the videos that this band is aiming for the mainstream and that involves healthy amounts of cheese to pull it off. While the sound of the band is clearly intact, there's just not enough going on on this new album to get me really excited. Personally i want the old MYRATH back. This just feels shallow. Not bad but not great either.

3.5 rounded down

"Myrath" is a progressive metal band from Tunisia (it has been said that they are the original heavy metal band from Tunisia) formed in 2001 by guitarist Malek Ben Arbia. At first, the band traveled around doing live shows, mostly as a cover band for heavy metal songs, but eventually, after replacing many members of the band, Malek went to Music Academy International to learn music theory and improve his guitar skills. In 2006, the band recorded their first album which was released in 2007 and have since released 5 albums.

In May of 2019, they released their 5th album called "Shehili". Except for the drummer, the entire band-line up remains the same as it was for their debut album: Zaher Zorgatti on lead vocals; Malek Ben Arbia on guitars; Elyes Bouchoucha on keyboards; Anis Jouini on bass; and Morgan Berthet on drums. The album consists of 12 tracks with a run time of 47 minutes. None of the tracks reach the 5 minute mark and, except for 1 short introductory track, all of them are between 3 and 4 minutes long.

The music on this album is a heavy metal style with many aspects of the traditional Arabic sound interspersed in the metal sound. The band is not afraid of their musical roots and use every opportunity to include them in their heavy music. The musicians are definitely talented, from the excellent lead vocals, the heaviness of Malek's guitar work, the excellent keyboards that take the music to a symphonic sound at times, always leaning heavily on the traditional sounds of their country and of course the rhythm section that provide a solid backing to the music. However, most of the tracks are sung in English.

So the music is great, especially for lovers of straightforward heavy metal that don't mind the addition of the Arabic sound. This aspect definitely gives some great personality to the music and make it exciting to listen to. The problem here is the music is not very progressive, but that doesn't mean it is bad, this album just doesn't deliver on the progressive side of the assigned genre, but it does deliver on the metal side of it. The tracks, being kept around the convenient times of 3 to 4 minutes only allow the music to become predictable, and thus the sense of being progressive is lost. Each song has an edge of symphonic metal with the excellent addition of traditional element, but the sense of adventure and experimentation with their sound doesn't rise above the standard sound of Arabic Metal. Since "Orphaned Land" is an obvious reference to Progressive Metal with an Arabic edge, it makes since to make the comparison to them, and Orphaned Land does it much better especially from a progressive stand point. Those hungering for that sound would do a better job at filling that need. If you don't mind the fact that there isn't much progressiveness in the music, that Myrath would still be a great choice.

So, the tracks tend to sound a lot alike because they all share the same traits, especially on the first half of the album. One standout track is "Lili Twil" which is based on a Moroccan song. The song is mostly sung in the original languge. This song still has a heavy edge to it, but leans more on the keyboards to provide the more traditional orchestral sound. "Stardust" is a piano-led ballad, but still straightforward. It shows off a softer side of the band, but still has a bit of heaviness boiling underneath it. The rest of the tracks pretty much follow the similar formula of heaviness with a symphonic edge and undertones of Arabic music. It is a decent album, but could use more variance between the tracks and is lacking in the progressive department, so for the sake of Prog Archives, it gets 3 stars. For heavy metal lovers, it is worth 4 stars.

Review #25. Believe it or not, this is one of the best heavy albums that has been released this year. Well, so far at least. A solid, powerful and well-structured album, including great Heavy Metal riffs and tunes.

For those who aren't familiar with Myrath and their music, I should say that they are a Tunisian Progressive Metal band, and their discography consists of 4 studio albums so far. What makes them special and different, is that they are playing Progressive Metal enriched with many elements from Tunisia's traditional music. Their songs are mostly in English, but there are some exceptions in which they sing in their own language.

Although Progressive Metal was never my cup of tea, I should say that I really enjoy Myrath's music a lot. I have all their albums, which are almost equally good, with 'Tales of the Sand' (2011) being my favorite one.

The album begins with an (unnecessary in my opinion) intro, followed by the Anatolian influenced powerful riffs of 'Believer'. Next comes 'Get your Freedom Back' which is one of the album's best tracks (always in my opinion). Killer guitar riffs, fast pace, and excellent vocal skills by Zaher Zorgatti, the band's singer. 'Get Your Freedom Back' is followed by 'Nobody Lives' which although is a good song, the lyrics are mostly in Tunisian, so many people might find it difficult and unpleasant to listen to. But it includes many nice changes and beautiful guitar. 'The Needle' that comes next, is another powerful guitar-driven song, with many changes, nice guitar riffs and a "catchy" refrain.

I am not going to mention each song separately here, because there is no reason to do so. All the songs are good ones, and each person will pick his/her favorite songs according to his/her music taste. But just for the record, I will mention my favorite songs, which are: Get your Freedom Back, The Needle, Through Your Eyes, I Want to Die and Endure the Silence.

A very important element in Myrath's music is without a doubt the band's excellent singer, who is raising the band at a higher level with his performance, and his very good use of English. The album includes 11 songs, and has a running time of almost 50 minutes in total.

Highly recommended to the fans of Progressive Metal music, and to all those who can appreciate a "different" album, musically speaking. My Rating would be 3.5 stars.

As kismet would have it, the fourth album by Tunisian progressive folk metal band MYRATH actually translates the band's name into English, thus making a sort of multi-lingual eponymous album title. Clever. It's been five long years that the band has been hiding in Aladdin's lamp only hinting of releasing their album but here in 2016 they have at long last after years of gaining recognition as the world's most sought after melodic progressive Middle Eastern metal band that they let the genie out of the bottle and the ensuing puff of smoke has had time to permeate the eardrums of rabid hungry fans worldwide.

Personally i have been one of those eager hungry fans as i have a huge appetite for all sorts of world ethnic music with Middle Eastern types such as bellydance, raï and klezmer leading the pack. Accompany these attributes with some metal guitar turned up to eleven with raucous guitar distortion, sizzling solos and frenetic percussion and you got me hooked. The first three albums by MYRATH are amazingly catchy and i find them to be recurring listens in my world. MYRATH has had the unsavory duty of being a spokesband of sort to represent an entire culture within a fairly Euro-centric style of rock genre, namely heavy metal which despite the universe it has spawned still has some rather rigid limitations on any newbies on the block coveting a fast pass into the club. Well, MYRATH more than proved themselves on their first two albums channeling their inner Symphony X and ushering an arranged marriage with the ethnic musical wonders of their North African environs, a comparison that they have successfully shed.

While LEGACY adheres to the stylistic fusionfest of previous releases, there has been a major shift in direction on this album. While the first two albums were much more into progressive metal territory, the band began to tame things down a bit on "Tales Of The Sands" creating a more lushly symphonic metal production and LEGACY not only follows in the footsteps of the previous album but takes these ideals even further. The progressive tendencies have been put on a leash, the symphonic touches have been given magic elixirs as to elevate themselves higher than the pyramids in neighboring Egypt. The production has been given the proper steroids to make every little violin lick dance like a coiling serpent on sand dunes around the seemingly alternative metal scaffolding of the song structures.

After my initial spin i was totally disappointed in this album for this went in a most commercial direction and into territory that i'm not biggest fan of. After quite a few listens now i have come around somewhat. MYRATH first and foremost are masters of melodic developments and in that department they do not let me down in the slightest. If taken for what it is and not compared to previous albums this is a really decent mix of Arabic folk songs dancing on a little doumbek a the local hafla where a metal band just happened to join the party. Once again MYRATH do indeed seamlessly meld the two worlds into a cohesive whole however this time around the metal aspects are sedated while the folk elements are highly symphonically embellished.

After all is said and done and a plethora of listens to bring me to some sort of conclusion i can only finally assert that this is my least favorite MYRATH album yet i find this very seductive like a mirage of a sand castle on a camel ride through the Sahara. There is no doubt that the musicianship and vocal performances by Zaher Zorgatti are of the utmost quality. The production is off-the-hook beautifully perfect and the symphonic elements are not in the least bit cheesy. The aggressive timbres flow into the subdued symphonics like magic and the river of melodic riptides expand into streams of musical developments like myriad minnows at the mouth of the Nile, however despite all the effort in the technical prowess on display here i just find there is too much emphasis on the ballads and crossover appeal. MYRATH is going for gold with this one hoping to expand their Tunisian tentacles into an ever expanding fan base. While that's all fine and dandy, there seems to be lacking a balance between these kinds of tracks and those of the past that really pack a punch. While i can't really say i dislike this album as it has really grown on me, i, at the same time, feel the album is missing some key elements that links it to their more energetic and passionate past. Definitely an album worth hearing but it gives me a sinking feeling that if they go any further down this direction they may just drop the metal aspects altogether and become good beach music for shish kabob parties in Malibu.

Also, i don't know if it's just my copy or a universal trait in the album release but my brand new copy has the most embarrassing period of silence between the percussive sounding opener "Jasmin" and the first full track "Believer." Not only does it have a period of silence but has a scratching sound like the master recordings were damaged. The two tracks are obviously supposed to seamlessly blend together like a magic desert spell that unleashes your inner genies to grant you wishes of musical bliss for the hour long charm called LEGACY. It doesn't really effect my overall impression but a huge blemish on an otherwise almost perfect production. A somewhat pleasing album but i expected more. 3.5 rounded down

Awesome metal from Tunisia. Accessible, bombastic, passionate, skillful, well-produced, this music will definitely get you pumped up! Constructed a bit like a Broadway show (it even opens with an overture-like instrumental), it has the plus of being totally energizing and very well polished. At times the performances get to feel as if they're a little SPINAL TAP-over-the-top--especially in the vocal department--but the many instances of Middle Eastern music inputs really add something to this awesome to this music--make it very engaging. The rock/metal foundations of the music (drums, guitars, vocal stylings) can get a little cliched in a 80s "hair band" kind of way. In fact, it's the orchestral-like keyboards and traditional Middle Eastern sounds and stylings that make this album as good as it is for me. Singer Zaher Zorgatti is uber-talented--singing in both the English language with its rock/metal traditions as well as in other languages (probably Arabian) with their vocal traditions' stylings. His lyrical pronunciation is impeccable and very much appreciated. If there is a weakness in the album it is probably in the unwavering high energy of the music. Even the gentler side of the band as expressed in songs like "Through Your Eyes" and "I Want to Die" (two of my favorite songs) are often so "big" and bombastic in their production as to be quite overwhelming. Listening through the entire album in one sitting is a taxing, draining experience; the constancy of their musical approach is a bit numbing and, eventually, disengaging. Plus, there is the afore-mentioned undeniable sound and style similarity to 80s hair bands like Guns'n'Roses, Skid Row, Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, and Faith No More.

Favorite songs: 6. "Through Your Eyes" (5:37) (10/10); 4. "Nobody's Lives" (5:43) (10/10); 8. "I Want To Die" (4:39) (9/10), and; 2. "Believer" (4:32) (9/10).

A solid four star album that is interesting for the influence and input of Arabian sounds and stylings.

I came late "into the game" of appreciating Myrath. Sure, they admit they were influenced by Symphony X, but so what? IMO, they take that style of prog metal to the next level with their Middle-Eastern influences. Not to mention, their musicianship on this third album is par excellence. While the lead guitarist is compared to Romeo of Symphony X, he certainly brings in his own Tunisian / Middle-Eastern elements that Romeo would not have a clue about. Some might say this is less of a prog album than their first two. The same could be said of Kansas of 'Leftoverture.' And yet, we have such prog classics on Leftoverture as 'Miracles Out of Nowhere' and 'Magnum Opus.' I feel Myrath has given us their "Leftoverture" album - and it rocks, big time! The lead vocalist is in fine voice, as are all the instrumentalists (sorry, I live in P.R. China, and cannot always access Google-based Wikis). There was a time about a year-and-a-half-ago where I listened to this album every 2-3 days. In the last 4 months, I have only just now begun listening to it again, as it is a "classic" - in its own definition of that term. The first album was good; the second album was great (and worth owning), but this third album is a must for any who are into Symphony X, Dream Theater, or - for that matter - Kansas. Get it and get a new experience in prog metal!

Review Myrath and the temptation to compare them to Symphony X is overwhelming, and this is particularly the case on their debut album. Playing down the influence of traditional Middle Eastern music on their sound a little in order to demonstrate that they can recapture the Symphony X power-progressive metal sound just as effectively as anyone, Hope might not be as strikingly original as later albums like Tales of the Sands, but it does demonstrate that even early on Myrath had a keen command of their chosen musical style. Yes, Symphony X listeners may find it very familiar, but I don't think it ever becomes outright derivative, with Myrath coming up with ingenious wrinkles to the Symphony X sound that the Symph-Xers themselves haven't cottoned to. It's just kind of a shame they don't put the more original aspects of their sound front and centre here like they do on later albums.