Myrath - Hope

In Arabian, Myrath means legacy but I can tell you that until today, it will also means "oriental killers of progressive metal". Myrath comes from Tunisia and they will probably be the first band from Maghreb which will have a famous international career. Leaded by Malek BenArbia a young talented guitarist who has finished his formation at the famous "MAI School" of Nancy (France), the band is for me the surprise of the year 2007. Between Symphony X, Adagio and Dream Theater, their first real official album "Hope" is an amazing release of Progressive Metal. If you pretend to like such kind of music, then you'll not have the right to miss this album.

Myrath's own style found throughout making this a great release for the Power/Prog Metal genre. "Hope" starts out with a beautiful intro that really shows the bands love for Western influences (the band hails from Tunisia, Africa) before kicking right in with the crushing riffage of the 2nd song "Confession"! After that the CD does not stop for the remaining 6 songs that follow! Found throughout the disc are monstrous riffs, soaring melodies, Asian influences, and brilliant backing vocals. This is all topped off with Kevin Codfert (Adagio
keyboardist) handling the production, and sound engineer duties. The production on "Hope" is absolutely crystal clear, ballsy, crisp, and punchy!

Intelligent, well written and with a ton of great riffs and melodies, "Hope" is a damn impressive beginning. I'm sure that the band will quickly become famous and will be signed by a major as soon as possible because definitely this album is one of the best releases of Progressive Metal that I had the chance to listen to lately. Now, all the Metalheads from the north of Africa will be able to show to the world that they know what great Metal is. Thumb up to Myrath for this exceptional release… this band will become really big and famous you'll see, I will not be wrong!

The grandeur of this release is that the consistency of quality remains very high over all its eight tracks, the majority of which seem to be the embodiments of a trinity of originality, complexity and magic. I believe most, if not all, of those into heavy Progressive, fans of Dream Theater included, will be in the seventh heaven when navigating through the pitfalls and undercurrents that highlight this wonderful recording.