Nathyr – Almamluk – Single Review

Egypt’s extreme progressive folk metallers Nathyr blew us away last year with their debut album As The Legacy Unveils and its follow-up single, “Almamluk“, recently came to our attention. 

Again showcasing Nathyr’s knack for incorporating modern extreme metal sounds with traditional middle-eastern instruments, “Almamluk” is melodic, earth-shatteringly heavy, otherworldly and crammed with enough abstract ideas to fill an entire album. Once the grinding riffs kick in, it’s left to the ingenious use of keyboards, Egyptian flute and various percussive modes to conjure images of ancient times, both foreboding and foretelling.

Utilising an evocative sample of barbaric fighting to add to the overall mood, a raging battle figuratively and literally takes place before our ears; history lesson and head-banging heavy metal workout duking it out for the listeners attention.

These guys are no mere slaves to genre convention and have an utterly unique sound of their own, one we simply cannot wait to hear more of! 7/10