My acquaintance with Myrath started by chance about ten years ago, when I saw the video clip “Merciless Times” on YouTube, they were really a pleasant discovery for me. I wanted to know more about them and I was surprised to learn that they are from Tunisia – I didn’t know any band from this country that plays such quality heavy metal married so beautifully with oriental elements. Since then, I started to follow their progress by listening to their previous record works as well as the following ones up to today. Their style refers to progressive metal, but it also looks a little towards power metal, I would say that one of their biggest influences seems to be the progressive metallers Symphony X. Don’t get me wrong, they’re a great band and they’re not clones of anyone, they just refer to that particular style. What definitely set them apart are oriental elements that they use either in their music or in the vocals. As for their new album “Karma”, they continue to write quality music, the excellent guitarist Malek Ben Arbia offers us catchy, groovy and brilliant riffs, their singer Zaher Zorgati is really magnificent and takes us on a journey with his warm and expansive voice. What I missed quite a bit are the oriental elements that characterized them, because they have been reduced. The absence of Elyes Bouchoucha on keyboards and backing vocals is noticeable. Maybe that’s why their sound has become more European and more commercial using enough pop elements. They may want to get to a wider audience, nevertheless, the result is very good and quite entertaining, I enjoyed it. Personal favorite moments are “To the stars”, “Into the light”, “Candles Cry”, “Carry on”, without the rest of the songs lagging behind.
♦ 8,5/10
Nick G. Arvanitis
