Myrath - Legacy (2016)^{Release ID: 7462}

If you're familiar with the Arabic language, you would know that Myrath is Arabic for Legacy. I guess this means that this album is the band's self-titled one. And you know that when a band releases a self-titled album, it often means that the album is highly representative of the band and their sound. Well with this album showing them discard the long complex song structures for a more accessible route, it's definitely the start of that different era.

These Tunisian progressive folk metallers have their catchy unique sound on display through 11 tracks. The Middle Eastern folk/symphonic aspects are even more apparent than their earlier releases. As a result, diverse experimentation is abound! It's already clear that their writing is as well-done as fellow oriental metal band Orphaned Land, to the point of almost rivaling them. As for the lyrics, the theme of freedom and hope has been around since the beginning. It's never tiring as long as it can motivate listeners, and even the band as well.

The cinematic folk intro "Jasmin" shall blow you away. And "Believer" shall blow you away harder than a hurricane! It is their catchiest song so far, with passion and power in the optimistic lyrics and exotic melodies. The chanting vocals sound EPIC. I can just visualize those Middle Eastern lands so well with this masterpiece of a song. The music video was made by two of the producers for Game of Thrones. The song is a gem that should really get you into the emotion of this album. The band still have their earlier more progressive side in "Get Your Freedom Back". It's almost like a sum-up of their first 3 albums and what's to come later in this one, all in 4 minutes! The progressiveness in the riffing is fused with the folk/symphonic elements. We even have a brief bridge of funky bass and drums. All catchy and progressive, similar to Orphaned Land.

On the flipside of their sound, "Nobody's Lives" takes on calm melancholy, complete with an Arabic-sung melodic chorus. The guitar rhythms flow through until stepping aside for more of those folky symphonics and some spotlight in the vocals. "The Needle" has darker intensity in the riffing and keys that sound closer to power metal. The catchy chorus will once again take over your mind with all its passion. We then get the epic "Through Your Eyes", which is where the magic really happens, especially in the piano harmonies. "The Unburnt" has some references to A Song of Ice and Fire. Those Game of Thrones producers should've made a music video for that one.

True standout "I Want to Die" is filled with epic glory, with sorrowful strings and smooth vocals. You know what, that should've been the theme for that James Bond film No Time to Die instead of that Billie Eilish song. Another progressive track "Duat" has some Ayreon-esque spacey keys. It's like a futuristic twist on their usual Middle Eastern folk-oriented sound, and that makes another brilliant highlight. Then we dig into the past for some old-school piano in "Endure the Silence", which is unusual yet shall catch your attention. One more track that is a folk-fueled rocker is "Storm of Lies". It really ends the offering as one more summary of the band's new direction. The Japanese edition includes instrumental "karaoke" versions of that track and "Believer".

All in all, Legacy has some of the most emotional diversity from Myrath, and it makes sense that this is their de facto self-titled album. As excellent as it is though, the vocals and symphonic are a little too pompous for me in some cases. Maybe it would've been perfect when I was in the more melodic metal zone at the time of the album's release. Now I prefer hearing the power from the guitars, bass, and drums that end up drowned out in those couple missteps. The surrounding albums have a greater amount of heaviness to balance out with the ambition. Still, Legacy has helped seal the band's position in the new league of melodic progressive metal. Their legacy shall carry on!

Favorites: "Believer", "Get Your Freedom Back", "Through Your Eyes", "I Want to Die", "Duat", "Storm of Lies"

Good enough, but not the classic follow-up that was hoped for

While Myrath's Legacy sounds fantastic with the increased production budget (those violins!), the songs themselves mostly fall short of the brilliance of Tales of the Sands, or even Orphaned Land's All Is One for that matter. They all manage to be at least pretty good, but they just don't feel as lively or inspired as most of the songs from the last album. As big and "epic" as they sound on a surface level, I detect a hidden lack of substance. 

I don't mean to sound too negative because this is a decent effort, it really is. Maybe it's too much balladry for my tastes, or maybe it's just that they refined their sound and toned down the progressive elements. I don't know. But what it comes down to is that, with the notable exception of "Believer", the melodies here just aren't striking me as particularly memorable even after several listens. That's the heart of the issue. Myrath won me over with their passionate melodies on Tales of the Sands and I'm just not getting enough of that from Legacy.

That said, "Believer" is almost worth the price of admission on its own. Easily the most infectious song Myrath have written to date, it's one of those tracks you can just listen to on repeat all day. Never gets old. Jump on the band-vagon! The "Believer" music video is already hands-down going to be my favorite music video of 2016. When the video first came out, those soaring Arabic violins at the beginning blew me away on first listen. Unfortunately, it set my expectations too high for the rest of Legacy, leaving me with a slight feeling of disappointment now that I've digested the whole thing. "Get Your Freedom Back" and the last three are probably the picks of the rest, but sadly I don't think I would go out of my way to add any of them to my library if I didn't already own the whole album.

Nevertheless, I think they will win a lot of new fans with such a strong single and professional-sounding album. I still love their sound - how they infuse their proud Tunisian heritage into accessible prog metal with stellar vocals. Even though the songwriting here underwhelms me, Myrath are still extremely unique and a band I will follow closely in the future.