To mix Heavy Metal with other foreign (let’s call it like that for now) styles is nothing new anymore. It has been done to death, sometimes with brilliant results, more often nothing but a shameful attempt at sounding original – that frightful chimera. In the globalized world we live in, where there seem to be no secrets anymore, it is getting more and more difficult to find something truly exotic. For us westerners, there are only maybe a couple of isolated spots that appear somewhat alien to our supposedly enlightened minds. One of those tiny bubbles is the Middle East, a land still filled with mystery and imagination. A place that our lords and masters have been teaching us to fear over and over again because they are trying to destroy our beautiful civilization. That is why we have to send our troops there – so they cannot harm us here. It is called Fight for Freedom… ours, not theirs – naturally.
There are a lot of examples of Metal bands that tried to incorporate the middle eastern atmosphere in their own sound, some with interesting outcomes, like Melechesch from Israel and the saudis Al-Namrood, but what really seems to capture people’s imagination is bands like Orphaned Land and Myrath, from Israel and Tunisia, respectively. Something that is easy to understand, since they have been taming their sound to become ever more digestible for the ADD metalheads of the new millennium. Something more akin to the bastardized Hollywood version of the «One Thousand and One Nights» collection of folk tales than the rich civilization that has been residing in those faraway lands for thousands of years. For a better mating of these two supposedly clashing genres we have to move closer to our borders, namely to Turkey, where East meets West and civilizations combine, to meet Pentagram (also known as Mezarkabul because of you know who), namely their «Unspoken» album. And then, since 2001, not much has happened until we come to this, Angbang’s new album, «IV».
For those of you who are not yet familiar with the band (or are too distracted to notice the album title) this new record is their fourth full-length already and like all the previous ones is being released through the german label Pure Steel Records. The band has been building a somewhat consistent career (forget about media exposure, I am talking about the inherent qualities of their creative work) with their sometimes a little proggy, more often fairly doomy Power Metal – the american variety, naturally – with some discreet middle eastern flavor thrown in to spice it all up. With a singer that bears a tone on the vicinity of Iced Earth’s Matt Barlow and a guitar player that is obviously a fan of Chuck Schuldiner’s most Heavy Metal moments (does he ever strayed too far from that, anywhere in his Death/Control Denied albums?), it’s easy for the uninitiated to paint a rather faithful (if a little too simplistic) picture of the band’s soundscape. But we are for a really special treat this time, since the band has finally embraced their own cultural traditions (I am not a fan of that whole tradition concept but bear with me for an instant) to what is definitely their most convincing work so far.
First of all, «IV» now features a brand new singer, none other than the mighty Tim Aymar, whose talent speaks for itself in the legendary «The Art of Perseverance» album, sadly Evil Chuck’s last release. And not to take anything away from Tim’s dazzling vocal performance on Pharao, the register he implies here is much closer to his Control Denied days – that uncontrollable rage that is always on the verge of derailing but never manages to stay off course. His vocals might seem a bit overbearing but that is the risk with a singer like this, his vocals sometimes can swallow the whole song. The fact that, in the production, the voice is chosen as the main focus can sometimes make it difficult to unravel the album. But Heavy Metal was never meant to be easy so if you have a little patience and commit yourself you will definitely be able to see the whole portrait much clearer.
The album opens with a rather straightforward Heavy Metal song, «Fighters», with the first of some pretty nice guitar solos but it’s in the second song – «Visions In My Head» – that we begin to notice Angband is now a completely different beast. Some Prog-like rhythm (guitar, bass and drums) leads the way to what appears to be a ney flute, one of the oldest instruments in existence, that has been continuously played for almost 5000 years. It is this tradition that can be felt in this album in a way that is seldom seen anywhere else. The word tradition is used here not in the sense of perpetuating archaic practices for the sake of maintaining a society ingrained with social injustices but something much more metaphysical, if you will, of archetypes passed from generation to generation, across millennia. And contrary with other bands that make it all sound contrived and a mere fake pastiche, Angband can make it all sound natural, a certain fluidity in motion that is impossible to resist. Probably because this is the real deal, a band from Iran that bears the traditions of one of the oldest and richest cultures in the planet. And sometimes we forget about that, in our own western-centered little world where all those outside are nothing but barbarians. History gives us lessons on a silver plate but why should we learn when we have a google assistant that caters to our every whim? It’s true that, as a notorious underground band claims, “empires rise” and “empires fall” but should we, as “children of Europe”, bear the honor of proudly raising the “torch of Enlightenment’s triumph” alone? Who do we think we are? Why are we – or anybody else, for that matter – so arrogant as to paint ourselves as the chosen ones?
The flute is not used here as mere trick to distract our attention from a lack of songwriting skills like it’s so common with some of the most pseudo-innovating Metal media darlings we hear about all the time. It is used sparingly across the record but convincingly because its presence is intrinsic in the overall sound approach, like in the previously mentioned «Visions In My Head» or later in the record on «Insane», a song about Heavy Metal (or, in layman terms, taking the reins of your own destiny), and on two of my favorites tracks in the album. First, the truly exotic «Mirage», a very subtle melancholic song dealing with awareness and the way we look at the world around us, through our own particular lenses. The flute appears last and takes the central role on the magnificent «Cyrus The Great», most probably the highest Angband has ever reached, where the vocal histrionics of Tim Aymar takes us right back to the Control Denied days. Some kind of exotic Prog by way of execution, not so much in structure that is fairly conventional. This is the song where the drumming skills of Ramin Rahimi jump right at you and make up the other half of this middle eastern aura, with a percussion section that fits like a glove in the subject. None other than the King of the Four Corners of the World (from the Balkans up to the Indus valley), the ruler of the first persian empire, 2500 years ago. It is important to keep these dates in mind and think how these lands and peoples are portrayed in the media over the last 60/70 years and how should we expect them to sit idly by while we try to subjugate them to our will, in the name of a totally perverted notion of democracy.
The guitar player Mahyar Dean comes up with some twisted riffs on some occasions and bears a constant dense feeling of sorrow (hence the doomy aspect that remind me of some of the stalwart bands of the rich Doom/Death scene of the 90s) that traverses the whole album. Something that is even more noticeable in his solos. Guitar solos that are not overtly complex but are very tasteful and meaningful, sometimes as if they are giving an almost imperceptible wink to the Paradise Lost school but without ever being fully committed to the Mackintosh cause. Also the tone on the lead guitar is spot on, as can be seen in «Atena». His performance on the closing instrumental «The Blind Watchmaker» is worthy of mention too. A mournful moment to let us linger on and ponder on the mysteries of the Universe and creation. Though I am not 100% sure – I am not ashamed to be corrected, if that is the case – but my gut feeling tells me (and the subtle specks of doubt and scepticism that are planted throughout the record) this title is referring to the Richard Dawkins’ book of the same name that also refers to another work from the clergyman William Paley, that claims a design implies a designer, thus the watchmaker analogy to explain the creation of the Universe and the blind watchmaker as a counterpoint to the theological so called-theory of intelligent design. Which is a pretty damn amazing thing coming from an Iranian band. But, in all honesty, this is nothing new, for even in the Golden Age of Islam (in the IX-XI centuries), atheism was accepted in the region, with such important figures as the baghdadi scholar Abu 'Isa al-Warraq or the blind poet (one of the greatest in classical Arabia) Al-Ma'arri, living long, fulfilled lives, in spite of their pretty – even in today’s terms – ferocious critics of religion.
As it was mentioned above, Tim Aymar is in amazing shape on the album. It is no secret that he has been battling some serious health issues in the last couple of years but no one would be able to guess on the power of his vocals alone because he exudes confidence in every word. A versatile performance that sees him stretching his vocal chords on quite diverse ways, namely in two of the songs. The ballad «Nights of Tehran» that bears that 70’s stamp all over it (a little Scorpions perfume here and there) is a heartfelt homage to the iranian capital where we really feel the longing in Tim’s voice. A tribute to his undeniable abilities since that is what a good singer should do, makes us feel something! Another profound song and, at the same time, his best performance in all the album, is «Children of War», a desperate cry on the effect on children that have to endure all the armed conflicts in the region. We always see the glorification of war in the big propaganda machine but remain completely oblivious to their most obvious aftermath. Unless it is on our backyard, obviously, because we conveniently forget the middle-easterns love their children too. Tim Aymar warns us “there is no hope to save man from mankind”. And that is the message we should keep from this journey album from Angband. A Heavy Metal album where different cultures meet, civilizations overlap and we learn to see reality from a totally different perspective. There are no enemies on the other side – just a fabricated illusion of fear and ignorance. Dare to see. Dare to see to listen. Dare to change your world views. Dare to build a much better world.
For those of you who are not yet familiar with the band (or are too distracted to notice the album title) this new record is their fourth full-length already and like all the previous ones is being released through the german label Pure Steel Records. The band has been building a somewhat consistent career (forget about media exposure, I am talking about the inherent qualities of their creative work) with their sometimes a little proggy, more often fairly doomy Power Metal – the american variety, naturally – with some discreet middle eastern flavor thrown in to spice it all up. With a singer that bears a tone on the vicinity of Iced Earth’s Matt Barlow and a guitar player that is obviously a fan of Chuck Schuldiner’s most Heavy Metal moments (does he ever strayed too far from that, anywhere in his Death/Control Denied albums?), it’s easy for the uninitiated to paint a rather faithful (if a little too simplistic) picture of the band’s soundscape. But we are for a really special treat this time, since the band has finally embraced their own cultural traditions (I am not a fan of that whole tradition concept but bear with me for an instant) to what is definitely their most convincing work so far.
First of all, «IV» now features a brand new singer, none other than the mighty Tim Aymar, whose talent speaks for itself in the legendary «The Art of Perseverance» album, sadly Evil Chuck’s last release. And not to take anything away from Tim’s dazzling vocal performance on Pharao, the register he implies here is much closer to his Control Denied days – that uncontrollable rage that is always on the verge of derailing but never manages to stay off course. His vocals might seem a bit overbearing but that is the risk with a singer like this, his vocals sometimes can swallow the whole song. The fact that, in the production, the voice is chosen as the main focus can sometimes make it difficult to unravel the album. But Heavy Metal was never meant to be easy so if you have a little patience and commit yourself you will definitely be able to see the whole portrait much clearer.
The album opens with a rather straightforward Heavy Metal song, «Fighters», with the first of some pretty nice guitar solos but it’s in the second song – «Visions In My Head» – that we begin to notice Angband is now a completely different beast. Some Prog-like rhythm (guitar, bass and drums) leads the way to what appears to be a ney flute, one of the oldest instruments in existence, that has been continuously played for almost 5000 years. It is this tradition that can be felt in this album in a way that is seldom seen anywhere else. The word tradition is used here not in the sense of perpetuating archaic practices for the sake of maintaining a society ingrained with social injustices but something much more metaphysical, if you will, of archetypes passed from generation to generation, across millennia. And contrary with other bands that make it all sound contrived and a mere fake pastiche, Angband can make it all sound natural, a certain fluidity in motion that is impossible to resist. Probably because this is the real deal, a band from Iran that bears the traditions of one of the oldest and richest cultures in the planet. And sometimes we forget about that, in our own western-centered little world where all those outside are nothing but barbarians. History gives us lessons on a silver plate but why should we learn when we have a google assistant that caters to our every whim? It’s true that, as a notorious underground band claims, “empires rise” and “empires fall” but should we, as “children of Europe”, bear the honor of proudly raising the “torch of Enlightenment’s triumph” alone? Who do we think we are? Why are we – or anybody else, for that matter – so arrogant as to paint ourselves as the chosen ones?
The flute is not used here as mere trick to distract our attention from a lack of songwriting skills like it’s so common with some of the most pseudo-innovating Metal media darlings we hear about all the time. It is used sparingly across the record but convincingly because its presence is intrinsic in the overall sound approach, like in the previously mentioned «Visions In My Head» or later in the record on «Insane», a song about Heavy Metal (or, in layman terms, taking the reins of your own destiny), and on two of my favorites tracks in the album. First, the truly exotic «Mirage», a very subtle melancholic song dealing with awareness and the way we look at the world around us, through our own particular lenses. The flute appears last and takes the central role on the magnificent «Cyrus The Great», most probably the highest Angband has ever reached, where the vocal histrionics of Tim Aymar takes us right back to the Control Denied days. Some kind of exotic Prog by way of execution, not so much in structure that is fairly conventional. This is the song where the drumming skills of Ramin Rahimi jump right at you and make up the other half of this middle eastern aura, with a percussion section that fits like a glove in the subject. None other than the King of the Four Corners of the World (from the Balkans up to the Indus valley), the ruler of the first persian empire, 2500 years ago. It is important to keep these dates in mind and think how these lands and peoples are portrayed in the media over the last 60/70 years and how should we expect them to sit idly by while we try to subjugate them to our will, in the name of a totally perverted notion of democracy.
The guitar player Mahyar Dean comes up with some twisted riffs on some occasions and bears a constant dense feeling of sorrow (hence the doomy aspect that remind me of some of the stalwart bands of the rich Doom/Death scene of the 90s) that traverses the whole album. Something that is even more noticeable in his solos. Guitar solos that are not overtly complex but are very tasteful and meaningful, sometimes as if they are giving an almost imperceptible wink to the Paradise Lost school but without ever being fully committed to the Mackintosh cause. Also the tone on the lead guitar is spot on, as can be seen in «Atena». His performance on the closing instrumental «The Blind Watchmaker» is worthy of mention too. A mournful moment to let us linger on and ponder on the mysteries of the Universe and creation. Though I am not 100% sure – I am not ashamed to be corrected, if that is the case – but my gut feeling tells me (and the subtle specks of doubt and scepticism that are planted throughout the record) this title is referring to the Richard Dawkins’ book of the same name that also refers to another work from the clergyman William Paley, that claims a design implies a designer, thus the watchmaker analogy to explain the creation of the Universe and the blind watchmaker as a counterpoint to the theological so called-theory of intelligent design. Which is a pretty damn amazing thing coming from an Iranian band. But, in all honesty, this is nothing new, for even in the Golden Age of Islam (in the IX-XI centuries), atheism was accepted in the region, with such important figures as the baghdadi scholar Abu 'Isa al-Warraq or the blind poet (one of the greatest in classical Arabia) Al-Ma'arri, living long, fulfilled lives, in spite of their pretty – even in today’s terms – ferocious critics of religion.
As it was mentioned above, Tim Aymar is in amazing shape on the album. It is no secret that he has been battling some serious health issues in the last couple of years but no one would be able to guess on the power of his vocals alone because he exudes confidence in every word. A versatile performance that sees him stretching his vocal chords on quite diverse ways, namely in two of the songs. The ballad «Nights of Tehran» that bears that 70’s stamp all over it (a little Scorpions perfume here and there) is a heartfelt homage to the iranian capital where we really feel the longing in Tim’s voice. A tribute to his undeniable abilities since that is what a good singer should do, makes us feel something! Another profound song and, at the same time, his best performance in all the album, is «Children of War», a desperate cry on the effect on children that have to endure all the armed conflicts in the region. We always see the glorification of war in the big propaganda machine but remain completely oblivious to their most obvious aftermath. Unless it is on our backyard, obviously, because we conveniently forget the middle-easterns love their children too. Tim Aymar warns us “there is no hope to save man from mankind”. And that is the message we should keep from this journey album from Angband. A Heavy Metal album where different cultures meet, civilizations overlap and we learn to see reality from a totally different perspective. There are no enemies on the other side – just a fabricated illusion of fear and ignorance. Dare to see. Dare to see to listen. Dare to change your world views. Dare to build a much better world.