Cultural traces are always appearing in Metal, because no one can tear apart what’s entered in your musical DNA on your childhood and youth. Some try to hide such thing at any cost; others use them to create very good musical works with a personal appeal. And what is delivered by the quartet OSTORATON (hailing from Saudi Arabia) on “Somood”, is truly amazing! They are labeled as a Progressive/Melodic Death Metal, but it’s not a fair label. Their music is totally dressed up with musical elements of Saudi/Middle East Folk elements and melodies and groove. And as a second release, they show a very good level of maturity, balancing in a great way the melodies, the technical insight, the brutality of Death Metal and the Folk elements.

It’s truly different and original, but it’s what Oriental Metal bands from Middle East are delivering to the fans. Their mix between aggressive guitar riffs (but with melodic leads and arrangements), brutal and oppressive rhythms of bass guitar and drums, vocals working with shrieks, grunts and normal tunes, and Oriental Folk elements is really something hard to explain, but easy to fall in love with. The quartet delivered the studio recordings for the hands of Dimitrios Douvras (who is famous for his work with ROTTING CHRIST on “ΕΑΛΩ”, or “AEALO”) for the mixing and mastering. And he did a very good work because with the nasty instrumental tunes used for guitars, bass guitar and drums, the band’s musical expression is clear in a way that anyone can understand, but aggressive as well. But a tip for the band: if it’s possible, try to record the sessions in Greece with Dimitrios next time for a better result, 😊

“Aljabal” (a fine intro), “Zafon Madin”, “Elmidan”, “SuMoud”, “Safinatol Sahra”, “Ward O Kanager” (a simpler song, almost all focused on melodic Death Metal traits, and few Oriental Folk elements), “Sab (” and “End of Time” (charming female vocals can be heard on this one) is an inspired set of songs, something different, excellent and that depicts a different and new way for extreme Metal. No deeper explanation is demanded, just the experience of sitting down and listening to the album (it will not hurt you or your musical convictions).

Again: OSTORATON is depicting clearly how you can use your cultural/musical background to breed something great! Listen to “Somood” and surrender to their music!  🤘🏻 🤘🏻 🤘🏻