Style: Melodeath/Middle Eastern Folk (mixed vocals)
Review by: Evan
Country: France
Release date: October 16, 2020
Attempting to effectively blend and incorporate two vastly different genres into a cohesive unit is no simple task, and can face very mixed results. Thankfully, Arkan’s blend of standard melodic death and middle eastern melodies is fairly seamless. However, a few small but extremely noticeable mistakes make the album, while solid, fall just short of the mark this band seems capable of. Lila H is a concept album about the French-Algerian band’s experiences growing up during the Algerian Civil War. The album starts off dark and heavy and gradually lightens as the war comes to a close.
All together, Lila H offers a sound that is both diverse and unique. The song lengths are all over the place and each incorporates different takes on the same blend, with the occasional addition of traditional middle eastern instruments, which are more effective. These facts, coupled with the general thematic transition of the album, mean each track is different enough from the last to keep the album engaging.
Clever and varied composition and the inherent uniqueness of Arkan’s blend are not their only advantages. The clean vocal performance from singer Manuel Munoz is rife with emotion and powerful throughout. He is backed up by a band who is clearly not lacking in technical proficiency, and all the traditional instruments are played by band members.
The production of the album is also phenomenal; it’s better produced than many more popular groups. In fact, Fredrik Nördstrom, who has worked on Opeth and Dark Tranquility mixed and mastered the album. The album was available in ultra HD on amazon music. Even when harshes are layered with cleans, electrics layered with acoustics, and middle eastern melodies layered with melodeath riffs does the album continue to sound great, and every individual component stands out clearly.
Unfortunately, as I mentioned before, what was almost a phenomenal album falls to a solid album due to two glaring faults. Firstly, the melodeath riffs are boring. I hear riffs like this in so much of modern prog. Most of them are fairly repetitive chugs that are more reminiscent of djent/core at points than death metal. I’d love to see the band come up with more interesting riffs throughout because they show multiple times they are capable of it. Secondly, and even worse, the lyrics are intolerably bad. Normally, I’ll only even mention lyrics if they’re either really good or really bad. Sadly, this album’s lyrics are so funny in points that they ruin the serious mood (see “My Son” for example). During the spoken intro I was laughing hard enough that I forgot I was hearing about children having to fear for their lives. I sincerely hope Arkan works on their lyrics going forward.
Ultimately, I really did enjoy this album overall, as it is a really unique take on these genres. I would strongly recommend this for someone who wants to hear something different, or really likes Middle-Eastern styled music. I could easily see someone who cares less about lyrics and is more into modern prog chugs give this album a higher score. Either way, Arkan clearly has what it takes to make phenomenal music, and I will be following their releases going forward.
Recommended tracks: Black Decade, Broken Existences, My Son
Recommended for fans of: Orphaned Land, Dark Tranquility, Middle Eastern Music
Final verdict: 7/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
<band in question> is:
– Manuel Munoz (vocals/guitars)
– Florent Jannier (harsh vocals/guitars)
– Mus El Kamal (guitars/acoustic guitars/miscellaneous instruments)
– Samir Remila (bass)
– Foued Moukid (drums/miscellaneous instruments)
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