- Feb 17, 2009
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I thought this article was a good read w/ a PPUSA mention:
Innovative quintet builds a new legacy for North African heaviness
By MTV Iggy
July 10, 2013
Words by Laina Dawes
In the past few years cultural diversity within heavy metal has been explored through investigative documentaries like Global Metal, Heavy Metal in Baghdad and books like Heavy Metal Islam, but no one has yet properly documented the vibrant metal scene in Africa. But with glowing reviews and a loyal following, Tunisia’s Myrath are the first North African metal band to be recognized and embraced by international audiences – raising the profile of heavy riffage from their region on their own and crushing cultural stereotypes along the way.
“We have talked to fans in North America and Europe and they say, ‘you have metal communities in Tunisia?’ A lot of people think that we live in the Sahara, that we don’t have electricity. Something strange, I know,” laughs keyboardist/backing vocalist Elyes Bouchoucha. All of the band members have an educational background in music, and Bouchoucha grew up listening to classic rock and metal bands. “I started off as a guitar player, so I was into Black Sabbath and stuff like that. My family suggested that I listen to other types of music like pop, Latin and of course, blues and rock.”
The band members are very aware that despite the respect they have received for their music, there are several cultural stereotypes about Tunisia that cause some fans to see Myrath as an anomaly, but he is adamant that isn’t true: “We very open as a country, so we have a lot of musicians that play rock, metal, hip-hop and soul.”
Originally called X-Tazy, the quintet was founded in Ez-Zahra, a Tunis-Tunisian suburb in 2001 by 13-year olds who simply wanted to play the music of their idols. After four years performing as a Death and later as a Symphony X cover band, X-Tazy found the confidence to start writing and performing their own compositions.
They first gained recognition within their country after their 2005 self-released debut, Double Face and later changed their name to Myrath (which means Legacy). Bolstered by the positive response they received from live performances at prestigious European festivals, their first internationally distributed album, 2007’s Hope soon followed.
Their sophomore album, 2010’s Desert Call and 2011’s Tales of the Sand further solidified the band’s popularity in the progressive metal community. Uninterested in simply replicating the musical styles favored by popular Western metal bands they chose to inject their music with Arabic–flavored instrumentation — strings and percussion. The combination of their technical musical prowess and Tunisian-influenced melodies creates both unique and exceptionally accessible metal.
Noting that the same questions about the modernity of Northern Africa from interviewers can be a bit tiresome, Bouchoucha does say that their unique sound, cultivated by their appreciation for the indigenous music and instruments in North Africa, has created a positive marketing buzz that helps their music reach the international masses. But for the band, musical categorization is irrelevant to the music they create.
“To be honest, I would say that we are playing metal,” he says. “I know we have been labeled as progressive, power and symphonic, but we consider ourselves simply as a metal band. When we are composing, we are not saying, ‘lets do a symphonic album.’ We are composing with feelings so we do not fit into any sub-categorization.”
“But I should correct something – it is Tunisian metal,” he adds. “The scales that we use, even the instruments, the techniques are not Oriental. When I say Oriental, I mean Egypt or Lebanon culture. We are using Tunisian rhythms and scales. You have to be Tunisian to play this style.”
Despite the current political unrest within Tunisia and its neighboring countries, the band shies away from discussing politics within their lyrics. Unlike Israel’s Orphaned Land, a band that Myrath is often compared to whose lyrics are often situated on political events concerning within their country, Myrath crafts their multilingual lyrics based on love, passion and self-determination, emotionally-driven themes that are universally shared. “We are not politicians,“ Bouchoucha firmly states. “That’s why we do not talk about politics at all.”
Myrath caught the attention of the organizers from the highly acclaimed 2013 Progpower international music festival, which features top-tier progressive and power metal bands. The will be performing at both the South American (Santiago, Chile, August 17th) and USA (Atlanta, Georgia, September 4-7th) editions.
Thanks to longtime fans, who despite limited access to international metal bands have sought them out online, the buzz has already started. “We are receiving a lot of messages from our fans in Atlanta, so we are thinking of doing a special set list for them.” That set list might include a few new songs that are slated for an upcoming album, which they plan to record after their summer touring schedule is completed.
“People are always amazed that we have a strong musical culture, but we tell [fans and journalists] that we have lots of great metal bands here,” he adds. He is confident that their inaugural North American show will not only appease their American fans, but will also promote the existence of other great Tunisian bands slowly making their way to the top.
~Jen
Innovative quintet builds a new legacy for North African heaviness
By MTV Iggy
July 10, 2013
Words by Laina Dawes
In the past few years cultural diversity within heavy metal has been explored through investigative documentaries like Global Metal, Heavy Metal in Baghdad and books like Heavy Metal Islam, but no one has yet properly documented the vibrant metal scene in Africa. But with glowing reviews and a loyal following, Tunisia’s Myrath are the first North African metal band to be recognized and embraced by international audiences – raising the profile of heavy riffage from their region on their own and crushing cultural stereotypes along the way.
“We have talked to fans in North America and Europe and they say, ‘you have metal communities in Tunisia?’ A lot of people think that we live in the Sahara, that we don’t have electricity. Something strange, I know,” laughs keyboardist/backing vocalist Elyes Bouchoucha. All of the band members have an educational background in music, and Bouchoucha grew up listening to classic rock and metal bands. “I started off as a guitar player, so I was into Black Sabbath and stuff like that. My family suggested that I listen to other types of music like pop, Latin and of course, blues and rock.”
The band members are very aware that despite the respect they have received for their music, there are several cultural stereotypes about Tunisia that cause some fans to see Myrath as an anomaly, but he is adamant that isn’t true: “We very open as a country, so we have a lot of musicians that play rock, metal, hip-hop and soul.”
Originally called X-Tazy, the quintet was founded in Ez-Zahra, a Tunis-Tunisian suburb in 2001 by 13-year olds who simply wanted to play the music of their idols. After four years performing as a Death and later as a Symphony X cover band, X-Tazy found the confidence to start writing and performing their own compositions.
They first gained recognition within their country after their 2005 self-released debut, Double Face and later changed their name to Myrath (which means Legacy). Bolstered by the positive response they received from live performances at prestigious European festivals, their first internationally distributed album, 2007’s Hope soon followed.
Their sophomore album, 2010’s Desert Call and 2011’s Tales of the Sand further solidified the band’s popularity in the progressive metal community. Uninterested in simply replicating the musical styles favored by popular Western metal bands they chose to inject their music with Arabic–flavored instrumentation — strings and percussion. The combination of their technical musical prowess and Tunisian-influenced melodies creates both unique and exceptionally accessible metal.
Noting that the same questions about the modernity of Northern Africa from interviewers can be a bit tiresome, Bouchoucha does say that their unique sound, cultivated by their appreciation for the indigenous music and instruments in North Africa, has created a positive marketing buzz that helps their music reach the international masses. But for the band, musical categorization is irrelevant to the music they create.
“To be honest, I would say that we are playing metal,” he says. “I know we have been labeled as progressive, power and symphonic, but we consider ourselves simply as a metal band. When we are composing, we are not saying, ‘lets do a symphonic album.’ We are composing with feelings so we do not fit into any sub-categorization.”
“But I should correct something – it is Tunisian metal,” he adds. “The scales that we use, even the instruments, the techniques are not Oriental. When I say Oriental, I mean Egypt or Lebanon culture. We are using Tunisian rhythms and scales. You have to be Tunisian to play this style.”
Despite the current political unrest within Tunisia and its neighboring countries, the band shies away from discussing politics within their lyrics. Unlike Israel’s Orphaned Land, a band that Myrath is often compared to whose lyrics are often situated on political events concerning within their country, Myrath crafts their multilingual lyrics based on love, passion and self-determination, emotionally-driven themes that are universally shared. “We are not politicians,“ Bouchoucha firmly states. “That’s why we do not talk about politics at all.”
Myrath caught the attention of the organizers from the highly acclaimed 2013 Progpower international music festival, which features top-tier progressive and power metal bands. The will be performing at both the South American (Santiago, Chile, August 17th) and USA (Atlanta, Georgia, September 4-7th) editions.
Thanks to longtime fans, who despite limited access to international metal bands have sought them out online, the buzz has already started. “We are receiving a lot of messages from our fans in Atlanta, so we are thinking of doing a special set list for them.” That set list might include a few new songs that are slated for an upcoming album, which they plan to record after their summer touring schedule is completed.
“People are always amazed that we have a strong musical culture, but we tell [fans and journalists] that we have lots of great metal bands here,” he adds. He is confident that their inaugural North American show will not only appease their American fans, but will also promote the existence of other great Tunisian bands slowly making their way to the top.
~Jen
