LEGACY

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.