Al-Namrood
Enkar

You just have to like Al-Namrood, the Saudi Arabian band who says fuck you to both the Saudi Arabian establishment and Allah. You have to like people who says that to god, no matter what god it is. The anonymous trio who have to remain hidden to avoid whatever foul punishments could be lined up for those people who dare to say fuck off to god and the religion that is such an integral part of so many nations in the Middle East. But I keep being a little sceptical of their disregard of the rules, because if it was like that how can you run a studio and play such music in such a place? But of course it is possible, they have some strange rules in that part of the world and they could of course avoid the authorities by recording in another nation. Well, whatever it is Arabian is a rather evil language so it works great as a black metal language.

They sing of the madness in their part of the world and they do so in a black metal fashion, black metal with some Middle Eastern touches is what it is. Not as varied as their previous album that I really like and that is something of a letdown, but not a big one. The energy is good, the production great and everything feels like a very solid album that is sure to please the band’s followers and fans. The playing time of this album is forty minutes and in my view it could have been a bit more varied over those minutes.

I think these guys do really well and this is a strong follower to their latest album but not as good as the predecessor. I think the songs could have used a little bit more variation, as there is no song that really stands out and really draws you to the album. This is a bit predictable for anyone who has already heard this band and that is a little bit of a shame but the band’s fans will certainly find this a very agreeable album, I think that it is a very good album.

Al-Namrood makes a strong album but not a great one and not one that is as good as its great predecessor. I think that Enkar is a solid and good effort, well worth checking out for the band’s fans.

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