In 2016, 'Lagacy' was for me a good surprise (see the column here) and 2019 sees the Tunisians of 'Myrath' who evolve with among others 'Orphaned Land' (see their latest album here) in an oriental metal style, release a new studio album, 'Shehili'. After a first listen, this last opus continues in the way that they had begun to trace with 'Legacy', an accessible melodico-symphonic metal, effective and catchy with certainly a mixture even better dosed between East and West and which brings even more this festive side that gives you an irresistible desire to move in the rhythm of the music especially as the rhythm section provided by Morgan Berthet is always very appropriate. In addition, 'Shehili' incorporates arrangements of great richness at the instrumental and vocal level and we can note the participation of the Tunisian National Orchestra which allows to further flesh out the compositions. After the short introduction 'Asl' that embarkes us in their oriental universe, these are 5 titles all as catchy as the others that parade with refrains that immediately enter in your head : impossible not to stomp or move the head to the rhythm of music listening to titles like 'Born to Survive', 'Dance' or 'Wicked Dice'. The first rhythmic break comes with the very endearing mid-tempo 'Lili Twil' which is a cover from the Moroccan group, 'Megri Brothers' and the good idea was to keep the lyrics in Arabic for the verses and to translate the chorus into English which will undoubtedly allow to involve a wider public during the concerts. After a 'Holding Back' that embarks us for a remarkable mix between East and West, the second break is brought by the magnificent power ballad 'Stardust' filled with emotion, then, 'Mersal' is a unique but formidable meeting between the metal of 'Myrath' and the tradition of Arabic music brought by the emblematic singer 'Lotfi Bouchnak' and without transition, with 'Darkness Arise', we return to a more hard-rock title with influences of the 70s and the album ends with the eponymous title of the album 'Shehili' which takes us one last time in this oriental universe with yet another memorable refrain. In summary, with this latest album, the Tunisians of 'Myrath' show that they have made further progress and that they have become an unavoidable group of an accessible melodic metal mixing East and West and this 'Shehili', although means the warm wind coming from the desert, should breathe a fresh and festive air all over the planet of metal and is to consume without moderation... | |
