Style: Symphonic black metal, symphonic death metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Nile, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Ne Obliviscaris
Country: International
Release date: 04 April 2025
Life in the ancient Persian Empire, man. Your neighbors are sacrificing goats to false gods, raiding tribes from the northeast keep your nomadic family on the move, and you—mild-mannered prophet that you are—just want to talk about truth, light, and cosmic harmony before being martyred on your own altar of worship. Is that too much to ask? Flash forward a couple of millennia, and now you’re the star of a ferocious extreme metal epic where your name is invoked by blood-drenched antiheroes riding demons into war through a burning Persepolis. Apotheosis comes at you fast.
Dark Tales of Zarathustra isn’t your average Middle Eastern theology lesson, it’s more akin to a narrative, fantastical version of the Avesta—if it were written by fireball-hurling necromancers on a desert battlefield. Putting music to the thematic madness is Belnejoum, a far-flung diaspora of metal mystics, featuring members of acclaimed acts such as Nile, Fleshgod Apocalypse, and Annihilator, alongside underground talents from around the globe. So, it should be no surprise that their first creation sounds like some blend of those groups (mainly the first two): the orchestral and operatic flavors of Fleshgod accompany the blistering blast beats of Nile, to the tune of warhorns blowing gales that feed the flames of fiery, blackened death metal riffs throughout the heavier moments of Dark Tales. Armageddon, or more appropriately Frashokereti, has arrived.
Or so I thought. On first listen, I was worried that the smoke from all of that flame was going to suffocate Dark Tales—until about halfway through, when “Elegie” eschews the bombast of its preceding tracks and treats the listener to a mournful, melisma vocal performance. Supporting the sadness are a deep piano, violin, and an antique cello built by renowned luthier Francesco Rugeri in 1695—and played by guest musician Jeremy Garbarg. Truth be told, this was actually the second track to slow things down, but it’s where a pattern is established. We are given two more breathers after this: the somber piano interlude of “As She Drowns,” and the plaintive Spanish classical guitar passage of “The Flames, the Prophet, the Tears,” which transitions into “Zarathustras Last Requiem”—an aching orchestral outro that is played under a spoken word lamentation, closing the book on this Tale.
Placed with intention, these softer textures don’t just break up the ornate grandiosity of the heavier tracks—they sharpen it, allowing the latter to stand apart from one another rather than collapsing into a cookie-cutter cacophony of the death metal variety. The eerie choral refrains on “Prophet of Desolation” hit differently than the ones in “In Their Darkest Aquarium.” The triumphantly marching riffs of “Tower of Silence,” punctuated by smoldering sweeps and searing tremolo picking flourishes, carry an entirely different flavor from similarly described riffs in “Upon the Mortal Blight.” Dark Tales of Zarathustra is a testament to thoughtful and deliberate sequencing. Filling in the cracks left in the wake of the crushing, blazing riffs are lush orchestral passages, with an organ, a ney, and various synths making sporadic appearances throughout the runtime of the LP. The apocalyptic soundscape here is not a world I would want to live in—but it’s fascinating to behold.
Though I find Dark Tales to be largely without fault, it doesn’t quite push into the genre-defining echelon of greatness. At times—never across an entire song—the vocal work falls into a cartoonishly black metal affectation, with its heavily enunciated consonants such as in moments of “In Their Darkest Aquarium” and “Prophet of Desolation.” Other stylistic choices don’t entirely work for me, either, like in “The Day Zarathustra Turned Dark” where the primary vocals are in the harsh black metal style, but without heavy guitars and drums to prop them up—leaving only the orchestral elements to do so, which feels increasingly cringeworthy once you’re into the back half of the song. Additionally, to my ear, the majority of the melodies lean on the more Western-sounding Aeolian and Dorian modes and minor sounds. That isn’t a problem, necessarily, but a small oddity given the thematic content of the album that had me expecting a more Phrygian flavor.
Such small gripes are forgivable, though, because this tome of Dark Tales is greater than the sum of its parts—which are already quite substantial. Belnejoum have conjured an album that provides both depth and spectacle, retelling history and myth in fire and fury. Peering into the flames and divining what is to come for them, I eagerly await their future prophecies from on high.
Recommended tracks: “On Aeshmas Wings,” “Tower of Silence,” “Elegie”
You may also like: Enthean, Lamentari, Blood Valkyria
Final verdict: 8/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives
Label: Antiq – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website
Belnejoum is:
George Kollias: Drums (Nile) – Greece
Francesco Ferrini: Orchestra Arrangement (Fleshgod Apocalypse) – Italy
Fabio Bartoletti: Guitars (Fleshgod Apocalypse) – Italy
Rich Gray: Bass Guitar (Annihilator) – United Kingdom
Ehab Sami: Guitars, Production Assistance – Egypt
Tamara Jokic: Melisma Vocals – Serbia
Mohamed Baligh “Aswad”: Band Composer, Founder, Vocals – United States/Egypt
With Guests:
Hany El-Badry: Ney
Mohamed Medhat: Violin
Christian Correra: Tenor
Jeremy Garbarg: Cello
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