AL-NAMROOD. I had no idea what it meant, I hadn't heard of them before, and I didn't really bother to get a look at the album cover before I hit play. Sometimes going in blind (so to speak, deaf?) is the best surprise. The strumming of what sounds like possibly a sitar is quickly joined by a riff that explodes into a Black Metal rage. You'll recognize the sounds, but they're framed in a new way. A gravelly voice alternates between shouted chants and lower growls. It's not the typical screeches and howls but it's still heavy and fits incredibly well with the Eastern influenced music. Sinister fuzzy guitars are joined by a deep thumping kick drum and possibly some electronic elements? I'm not smart enough to know if these are programmed (No drummer credited, mystery solved) but they fit well. It's a rattling volley from heavy batteries that propels the assault.

This berserker pace is kept throughout the album. I was particularly a fan of the third song which features an incredibly catchy "XENOPHOBIAAA XENOPHOOOOBIA!" chorus which is also the only word I could understand of the entire album. Music crosses boundaries however, the tone and mood can be understood from the style of playing and in this case, it's an onslaught of heavy. Side note, if you're not checking out music just because of language barriers you're missing out. Several of the songs on the album feature a great mixing of both typical Metal band instruments as well as several other instruments I'm not smart enough to know the names of, but that I'm also scared to google because I might end up on some kind of government watch list if I use the wrong words. Regardless, it sounds great. I am a huge fan of the concept and the execution. Several other extreme Metal bands have experimented with cultural folk instruments and sounds like (obligatory namedrops/recommendations: FINNTROLL, TENGGER CAVALRY, ELD, CHTHONIC, ACRANIA) and I've dug it every time I've heard it. Metal, like all art, should be pushing boundaries and trying new things to escape the ever-encroaching void that is stagnation and eventual irrelevance as the emotionless menace of entropy buries existence under infinite time. It sounds nice in my earholes.

There's a song called "Egwaa" (which is fun to say) that is an instrumental voyage through far off lands (unless you live in that part of the world, then it's like local music you're sick of because you hear it all the time or something? I don't know, I'm dumb. I only know this kind of music from certain restaurants and the Prince of Persia video games. I couldn't name a single Middle Eastern music composer guy or anything. Until NOW!). It's a nice respite from the brutality and it really brings a focal point to all the other instruments that have been adding an incredibly unique and welcome variance to the typical Black Metal tropes. Don't get me wrong, I love Black Metal and Grindcore and all the other yell-y heavy music types but the sheer longevity of the genre has led to an overflow of similarity. Yes it's fun, but a change is welcome. Remember how cool it sounded when NILE had intermissions with Egyptian sounding stuff in it? Well there's more here for you to enjoy. This is the pinnacle of atmosphere, and it only leads right back into more intensity. This is genuinely an incredibly awesome addition for any metal head who loves collecting stuff from around the world. It has such a unique fusion of a sound most folks were already sort of familiar with incorporated into the cacophony that is extreme Metal. I call this mutant baby a success, so much so that I did some research out of sheer curiosity (and because I should probably try to know what I'm talking about).

As it turns out AL-NAMROOD translates to "Non-Believer".  It's also another name for King Nimrod who is from a myth about a guy who basically defies the gods. The crazy part about this band is that they are from Saudi Arabia where what they are doing is punishable by death! They can't play any live gigs for fear of persecution. That's a badass level of devotion to the craft. While a lot music fans are able to separate the music from the message, I think the message is included as part of the whole so why ignore it? In this case as I understand it there is a lot of anti-religious and specifically anti-Islamic stuff on the album. While it's a potential minefield for controversy given today's knee-jerk reactionary "I'm right and only me" internet culture, it's also an interesting perspective to take. To any Metal or extreme music fan worth their salt this shouldn't be anything particularly new or shocking (for example the satirical FEARLESS IRANIANS FROM HELL, or that goofy NSBM stuff, there's all sorts of perspectives out there). Like I said before, it's what you know in a different way. Personally I'm a fan of the message but given that I don't actually understand what's being said, it doesn't really matter.

Given the context of this music, I think that alone is worth giving this a definite listen. The album art captures what seems like a fantastical terror-filled scene but is also still a plausible fate in certain parts of the world. If you like Metal and you are cool with some folk music from that region of the world being in it, by all means dig it. If you're a true Black Metal fan, stick those pointed troll ears into some kind of listening apparatus and get your brains melted from the sounds of war from the desert realm.