Kitab Al Awthan

“Kitab Al Awthan” is the third album of Al Namrood from Saudi Arabia, which was released in 2012 and wants to deliver the listeners this time in Arabia, before Babylon, in an era when the pagan religion and civilization was defining the life of the Arabs, before, as the mention, the coming of islam with its false promises for light and cover the Arabs again into darkness. The album begins with a majestic introduction and it continues with eight compositions of fifty minutes of duration. Musically, Al Namrood have added more intense Arabic elements while the Black Metal elements almost don’t exist. Well, beginning by saying that here we don’t deal with a Black Metal album, we can characterize it as Arabian Metal or Folk Metal, those who are not interested stop reading here.

Al Namrood also in this album puts out that unbearable, suffocating, hot atmosphere that it existed in the two older albums but in “Kitab Al Awthan” the speed has been reduced, there are very few fast parts, and the elements from the traditional Arabian music are now stronger. Maybe this sound not to be Black Metal, but leaving back those norms and paying attention to the music we will come across many inspired melodies and riffs. The riffs are mid paced and they clearly step on traditional, Arabian music patterns, with a few exceptions that the riffs are more brutal and more Metal. The guitars are clean, they deliver the tracks’ feeling very well. The keyboards fill in the guitars and vice versa. The keyboards play a very important role in the compositions and probably they are an indispensable part of the procedure of composing of Al Namrood. The keyboards other times have a sharp sound which reminds of zither and other times a more majestic – atmospheric and they are played well. The bass just fills the sound without its lines being heard clearly. What I didn’t like much is the drums, their role in the album is completely auxiliary, as their lines are simple, just giving the basic rhythm, while the first role is held by the traditional percussion which exist in more parts and their sound is louder.

The vocals are the same as in the older albums, heavy Death/Black vocals, quite expressive and interesting but many times I felt that they don’t fit to the music. The production is loud and bassy, clean and generally it puts out a very nice and massive sound. The mix is also very good with the guitars and the keyboards louder having achieved the correct balance. The lyrics are written in Arabian and they refer to the deities and the pagan religion of the Arabs before islam.

The third album of Al Namrood clearly shows the direction that the band wants to follow, loyal to the Arabian tradition both musically as concerning their subjects. In this album, the balance between Metal and the Arabian sound wasn’t found but still the album is quite good. The fans of Al Namrood have surely bought the album. Those of you who would like to get to know the band, I would suggest you to listen to the previous album that I liked more.