myrath – desert call (2010)

while we all (who? me and my like-minded fellow music freaks, of course) sit and eagerly wait for this year’s most anticipated album (perfect example of how not to create a fuss about something that does deserve it), how about we give a listen to something else not only worth it, but well likely to climb up our top 10 albums of the year when the time of reckoning will come?
i’m talking about tunisia’s most promising band, myrath, and their new output desert call. a couple of years ago these guys stunned all of us non-conventional music lovers with an excellent debut (hope) in the vein of neo-classical prog metal, an impressive tribute to their beloved symphony x. i dare label it “impressive” because what you usually find in such bands is a talented group of copycats and not much more. and it usually takes a few years to really develop a trademark sound and all that. but hope left you with actually more than just… hope for a bright future. it gave you a clear sign these guys were already on the right track.so hope was a beautiful debut of its own.
what’s next? definitely something even better. the songwriting seems to have improved on desert call, and you’re left with the impression there are more ideas spinning round, and all of them are dressed up in a very convincing musical fashion. we’re still with both feet deeply stuck on symphony x ground, which thistime proves to be a blessing rather than a curse. you can hear those echoes all throughout the album, from the stop&go’s to the same scales romeo and the jersey guys love to play, and moreover, myrath seem to kind of have assimilated their masters’ latest lesson on paradise lost: raise your hand if “madness”‘s choirs don’t immediately have you think of paradise lost‘s. that said, myrath don’t forget to add something personal, and that comes out when it’s solo time. i think you can quite tell then that they can personalise their sound.
variety within what you like – could you ask for more? that’s what myrath will bring you if symphony x are also on your favo-list. but to do this band right, let’s also point out where they differ from the american fab five. myrath wouldn’t quite be what they are if they didn’t have that charming middle-eastern (let’s rather say: arabic) touch to their songs. desert call is no journey through exotic landscapes as amaseffer‘s slaves for life, but the folky (here’s to say: arabic) melodies play quite a role through the songs, from the very beginning of the opener “forever and a day”.
“memories” suffers from the same kind of holdback many ballads from such bands seem to be hampered with: slower tempos and an acoustic setup, though stirred with a very melodic, clean singing style (the singer zaher really possesses a vast array of qualities), aren’t enough to make it something you’d listen to over and over when you’re in the mood for something softer. but that’s about the only lowlight on the album and, like i said, no exception within the genre. the whole of these 65 minutes of music are well worth more than a spin.
the recognition myrath are gaining is absolutely well deserved and we can only… hope this desert call won’t be their last of this refined kind. when you do have a trademark sound and it incidentally involves a sane misture of arabic melodies sung in a clean yet powerful voice, E-tuning and scales, syncopated riffs and pretty solos, you’re most likely to win my attention, and for quite a while. which myrath‘s desert call definitely did and hopefully will do to you as well.

thus spake the cennsor: 8/10