Sombre Arcane

• Groupe : Al Namrood
• Album : Astfhl Al Tha'r
• Genre : Black Metal
• Year : 2009
• Origin : Saudi Arabia
• Label : Shaytan Productions
• Note : 14.5/20

A Black Metal band from K.S.A that sings only in Arabic? “Yes” I say. In the holy country, these guys take their instruments to play some blasphemous riffs. I know what you're thinking: the last few years have seen an explosion in numbers of these “Oriental” bands, the bands that heeded the clarion call of Salem and Orphaned Land and gave the metal world a relatively new genre for the first time in years. Al Namrood are not fucking around with prayers like Amaseffer, they are not trying to sell you on the beauty of God or convince you of the benefit of theology. The only aim of this horde is to tell you different stories in a diabolical version.

As with all sappy, Oriental metal bands, all attention is on the folkloric job; fully aware of this, Al Namrood plunge you into the ancient history with their original keyboards. The compositions are separated from each other, not following a concept like previous mini CD did. On this album the middle-eastern structures are clearer than ever, and although this makes the music more innovative and ingenious, it also muffles the rawness and intensity and thus creates a small shift in their intelligent balance between tradition and modernity. If one listens carefully, one can hear some Nordic black riffs; however, the atmospheric keyboards overpower the guitars and create a voyage into the Arabic desert.

Some tracks like “Ya'jooj Wa Ma'jool” and “Jabaroot Al Shar” remind me of Narjahanam and their apocalyptic tales. So, it is obvious that Al Namrood are not trying to glorify Islam nor are they praising the sacrilegious areas. They might be treading the middle ground but their approach I assure you is not middle-of-the-road. Even holy themes lodge in the heads of Satan and take a new bleeding century ahead.

To stress my opinion, I'd just like to say that I can't recommend “Astfhl Al Tha'r” to any particular type of metal listener, but somehow I find it likely to be enjoyed by all sorts of people. It travels just the beaten path of mixing tradition and modernity and coming out with something everyone's supposed to like at least a little bit.

In short, there is only one word you need to remember from this review: Wanted!

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/alnamrood