Author: Sandi Sadar Šoba
Artist: Arkan
Label: Season Of Mist
Release: 2011
Length: 59:49
Rating: 4.9/5
Ever wondered whether the Arab world and extreme metal go together, and even more, what that actually sounds like? After Orphaned Land and Melechesh, questions like that don’t come up much anymore, and a dose of exotic flavor is always welcome, as long as the metal sheen is just as sharp and punchy. Despite fitting neatly into the Arab league of heavy-sound experts, Arkan are a band from France, with Arab roots in the lineup at least in the drummer and founder Foued Moukid, who comes from Tunisia. But for all the geopolitical factors and hinted-at directions, the record Salam is anything but a predictable, offbeat musical trip into the lands of the Near and slightly-less-near Orient, because Arkan are a band whose distinctiveness is inspired first and foremost by punchy, technically flawless death metal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZIqwvni5Ik
In their sixth year of existence, Arkan have given birth to a seriously coherent and truly solid piece of work, one that carries on the run of quality set by the album Hilal and the EP Burning Flash. But let’s start with the sound of this really fresh, hard-hitting release. Salam, Arabic for peace, is balanced in its remarkably colorful sonic variety and outstandingly polished in production, with the cherry on top supplied by Fredrik Nordström, famous for his work on records by In Flames, Septic Flesh and countless other first-division metal acts. Under his fingers, Arkan get plenty of tight melodic interplay on top of their oriental black metal soul, so not a single moment of this outstanding record drags or kills your urge to dive into its substance. Arkan have managed to conjure, black-metal style, the spirit of the Parisian suburbs, where political, social and economic inequalities rule along with the prejudices the immigrant community has to fight, this time a bit more directly: Muslim youth, who because of their religious identity have been even more out of favor and stigmatized since the attack on the Twin Towers in 2001. Arkan are sonic rebels, and in their own recognizable way they say that we’re all really one single being that shouldn’t be divided by gender, race, religion or ethnic identity. They deliver that lyrically in songs that reflect dreams, longing and resistance to brutal domination, socially aware, and they also point out, no holds barred, the blind alleys of this modern society of modern bigots. And on top of all that, Arkan are a band with a backbone!
The oriental flavor is not an end in itself. The musical roots of this trip into the unknown are rounded out by a hint of the Moroccan and Tunisian desert soul, and the band can also speak for the soul of an entire second generation of immigrants in the belly of a Europe with far too many options. This modern developed world is a repressor, a global policeman, and the outskirts of the metropolises are new-age ghettos where there’s precious little light, precious little opportunity. That’s the sea of ideas from which the young creative minds who make up the hexagram of Arkan draw. One of the most striking points, besides the playful rhythms, melodic natural touches and the lightness of modernized metal arabesque, is undoubtedly the crystal-clear, intoxicating voice of singer Sarah Layssac, a tasteful diametrical opposite to the hard, punchy, dark-sounding distorted dialectic of traditional instruments and the usual arsenal of modern metal. That dialectic of hard and soft runs through the whole of Salam, while the warm human soul gives this death metal gem a sense of suspense, in whose furnace any resistance you might have to ethno flavors and different visions of rhythm and melody burns away second by second.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orE8kU30vGs
Salam is a record that overwhelms and enchants you, and you can easily put yourself in the shoes of the protagonists who, on their path to breaking free of every shackle of hopelessness, fall into a state of total rage and fury. Despite everything, they keep their pride and, heads held high, proclaim loud and clear the roots for which the world judges them as different. That’s the idea running through the whole record, from the song Origins all the way to the closing outro Amaloun Jadid II. The first one instantly lights up the musical state of the Arkan organism. Alongside the acoustically resonant sound of the oud, brutally thundering electric guitars, more than steeped in a feel for songcraft, melt into one compact whole, and besides the gorgeous arrangement, the outstanding vocals of guttural orator Florent Jannier deserve praise too. Among the angrier shards of this honest record are outbursts like Inner Slaves and Deus Vult (on the latter, Orphaned Land vocalist Kobi Farhi tastefully joins Arkan’s tight playing), but Arkan keep the necessary sense of balance and consciously renounce thundering destructiveness so that the whole comes out nicer and not the least bit overdone. That’s why the flight through the chambers of this burning heart is truly outstanding and enjoyable, and Arkan lodge in the subconscious as a band worth a lot more than a passing glance!
This review was written in collaboration between RockLine and Rock Hard Slovenija.
Lineup
Foued Moukid – drums, percussion, bendir, tarabuka, table, cajon
Florent Jannier – growls
Samir Ramila – bass
Mus Elkamal – electric and acoustic guitar, oud
Sarah Layssac – clean vocals
Abderrahmane Abdallahoum – guitar, oud, mandolin, bouzouki, keyboards, vocals
Guest musician:
Kobi Farhi – vocals on Deus Vult
Production
Fredrik Nordström
Tracklist
1. Origins
2. Inner Slaves
3. Deus Vult
4. Blind Devotion
5. Jerusalem – Sufferopolis
6. Beyond Sacred Rules
7. Common Ground
8. Sweet Opium
9. Salam
10. Call From Within
11. Lightened Heart
12. The Eight Doors of Jannah
13. Amaloun Jadid II
