Album Review: Myrath – Karma

Myrath are a band we’ve encountered before, but it’s been some time! A couple of chats before the Tunisian act appeared at Bloodstock, and again at Wacken, gave us a chance to find out about them, but we’ve never reviewed any of their music. Until now…

How best to describe Myrath? Definitely “heavy metal”, though I’ve seen them listed under power metal and progressive metal also. There are no major twists or surprises in the sound, only a high quality and, certainly in the case of Karma, some excellent production. “To The Stars” throws everything at you from a catchy chorus, through widdly guitar solos to a “woah oh” singalong that is very reminiscent of something Maiden may have rattled off a couple of decades ago. There are plenty of other little touches in there to really beef up the sound and it works well  – the song sounds huge.

They’ve not blown the budget on the first song either. “Into The Light” really kicks in like something you’d expect from one of the high end symphonic acts and features what seems like half a brass section throughout. You can check out “Candles Cry” below, with its groovy feel. Wallow in the bass twang at the end of the intro!

“Let It Go” is a cover of the well-known Disney song… no. No it’s not. I was just checking to see if you were paying attention. It does, however, tickle at the same feels but doesn’t quite match up to its namesake. It’s a belter of a hard rock song regardless and is probably one of the most sing-along-ish tracks on the album. The album cover evokes a middle eastern feel, and this comes through on “Words Are Failing”. A straight up powerful song in its own right, those little flurries of the orient tease the listener just enough.

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Through “The Wheel of Time” and “Temple Walls” the album continues to pound, each song taking us in a slightly different direction in terms of influence. It’s with “Child of Prophecy” that the pace changes as the Indian influence is far more imphatic. Add to this a series of riffs, rhythms and beats that could have been put together by Alter Bridge and you have the best song on the album. Kicking off as the token ballad, it closes with some kick-arse emotive tones.

“The Empire” follows a grittier path, leading us to the machine-gun staccato of “Heroes”. The album closes with the ethereal and plaintive “Carry On”, singer Zaher Zorgati really showing off his vocal range which is comparitively only hinted at in earlier songs.

Karma is a great listen. Mixing traditional metal with traditional Tunisian musical influences, it’s got an edge of originality in an otherwise crowded market.

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To The Stars is out on March 8th

Header image by Léo Margarit

Check out all the bands we review in 2024 on our Spotify and YouTube playlists!

Myrath: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | spotify | youtube

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