Top 5 Middle Eastern Metal Albums of 2013
At some point in the early ’90s, folk metal acts from the Middle East received the decidedly un-PC neologism, Oriental Metal. The term, implying a heady mix of thrash guitars, throaty vocals and maqam-inflected scales, fell into disuse but the relevant bands did not. In a year when the Middle East was marked with military coups, ongoing sectarian civil wars, and one of history’s largest refugee crises, metal bands stood at the vanguard — distilling chaos into chaotic music and writing some of the best albums of the year. Here are five of them:
“Let Us All Unite” (Syria)
By Anarchadia
Out of civil-war-torn Damascus, thrash metal Anarchadia opens their debut full-length album with the sound of automatic weapons and former President George W. Bush intoning a warning against terror. Nour Sabbagh’s death metal vocals underpin an album full of political awareness and hope for a better future. While “Narchaotic” bemoans narcoleptic despair in the wake of turmoil, instrumental “Elevation Call” is a gorgeous progressive ascent into transcendence.
“All is One” (Israel)
By Orphaned Land
Scene godfathers Orphaned Land open their fifth album with a twisty Arabic guitar riff and then a feel-good series of concepts about friendship and peace in the Middle East. Tracks “Let the Truce Be Known” and “Our Own Messiah” are as prog-epic as anything since their breakthrough “Mabool”; closer “Children” asks “How can we live with this horror that we bring to this world?,” lyrics laser-focused on a tribe of orphaned children living in a broken land.
“Arabic Rock Orchestra” (Palestine)
By Khalas
While we don’t normally expect metal bands to personify transnational cooperation and peace, Khalas and Orphaned Land did just that this year with their 18-date tour together in Europe. Orphaned Land’s Kobi Farhi and Khalas guitarist Abed Hathout are long-time friends and music outlets throughout the world picked up the story of an Israeli and Palestinian band playing together. What they missed were the amazing jams the band kicked out on their sophomore record: hard rock packed with Middle Eastern sounds.
“Anti Quran Rituals” (Iraq)
By Seeds of Iblis
It’s hard to know what is true about Seeds of Iblis. They claim to be an underground, anonymous Iraqi band of two men and two women dedicated to desecrating the principles of Islam. Anti-religious sentiment is not new to black metal — anti-Christian themes have been a continuing source of lyrical inspiration in Europe — but anti-Islamic themes carry their own risk in a sectarian post-Rushdie world. In dark, pulsing techno-metal swirls, “Anti Quran Rituals” targets terrorism, holy war, and even closes with a Nietzschean “Allah is Dead.”
“The Devil Went Down to the Holy Land” (Israel)
By Betzefer
Israel’s premier stoner metal band’s third album eschews obvious regional politics for groovy licks and and blasts against consumerism, as on the mid-album track “Yuppie Six Feet Underground.” Not quite as geopolitically aware as some of the other albums on this list, Betzefer brings more of the nihilistic rage we’ve come to expect from metal, with just a touch of the holy land.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Dive In
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion My Jewish moms group ousted me because I work for J Street. Is this what communal life has come to?
- 2
Opinion Stephen Miller’s cavalier cruelty misses the whole point of Passover
- 3
Opinion Passover teaches us why Jews should stand with Mahmoud Khalil
- 4
Opinion I co-wrote Biden’s antisemitism strategy. Trump is making the threat worse
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture Jews thought Trump wanted to fight antisemitism. Why did he cut all of their grants?
-
Opinion Trump’s followers see a savior, but Jewish historians know a false messiah when they see one
-
Fast Forward Trump administration can deport Mahmoud Khalil for undermining U.S. foreign policy on antisemitism, judge rules
-
Opinion This Passover, let’s retire the word ‘Zionist’ once and for all
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.