Myrath – Tales of Sands (2011)

When we add albums to our review queue we usually add a few and spin them one after the other, in the case of Myrath’s “Tales of Sands”, we haven’t been able to stop listening consecutively to this excellent release. Featuring 11 tracks (45 minutes) of excellent Progressive Metal with oriental/middle-eastern influences unlike you ever heard before (maybe a bit like the newer Orphaned Land stuff but way better), this album will surely blow you away.

In our endless search for unique sounding music, Myrath has instantly written their name in our very selective list. The band manages not only to produce a good Progressive Metal album, but also to fuse their own oriental influences very nicely into the overall scheme of things and create a very fresh and dynamic sound. Being a combination of their two previous releases, which we immediately went and found to make a more informed review, “Tales of Sands” shows great maturity in the band’s songwriting skills.

Opening with “Under Siege”, the band quickly shows their unique blend of influences by creating a very bombastic oriental/middle-eastern atmosphere. Zaher Zorgatti vocals are a very good fit for the music and they can rival almost any singer of the genre. The female choir sections give an extra boost to the band’s sound and nicely adorn this very pleasant song. Delivering solid riffs and a unique atmosphere through tracks like “Braving the Seas” and “Merciless Times”, the band shows that they can make very refreshing songs that never get old.

“Tales of Sands” has to be our favorite track of this release and it will be playing on our stereo every time we play any Prince of Persia video game in the foreseeable future. Having spent a good time this summer in Turkey, this track reminds us of the general atmosphere in ‘traditional’ places in this beautiful country. The vocals and traditional elements are very well crafted into the Metal elements of this song making it very magical and enchanting. For those more ‘technical’ oriented people, “Sour Sigh features some pretty cool sections that you wouldn’t expect in a release like this.

Featuring some futuristic keyboards, “Requiem for a Goodbye” nicely changes the pace of things and also brings a more ‘modern’ sound to the release. Our second favorite track of this release is the very well crafted closing song “Apostrophe for a Legend”. In this piece, the band goes a bit more ‘commercial’ and this song reminds us a bit of a hair-Metal power ballad, but it’s excellent in its own way.

Overall, we have to agree that Myrath is an excellent band with a great eye for making different and effective music. Filled with powerful riffs, brilliant keyboard and guitar solos, and a hefty array of different vocal styles (and female vocals) “Tales of the Sands” is our first clear candidate for Progressive Metal album of the year. So do yourself a favor and get this release as soon as it drops.

Release: October 11th, 2011

Country: Tunisia