Arallu – En Olam (Review)

Arallu are black metal band from Israel and this is their seventh album.

I always really like Arallu’s work, (check out Six, Geniewar, and Desert Battles – Descending to the Sands), so it’s exciting to see a new album emerge.

If you’re new to Arallu then you need to know that they are not your standard black metal band. Not only do they mix in touches of death and thrash metal into their music, but they also incorporate Middle Eastern themes, melodies, and instruments. This results in a very striking and individual endeavour, one which has seen the band go from strength to strength with every release so far.

There’s a depth of texture and substance to this music that may not be overly apparent from the above description, however. Arallu play brutally aggressive music very well, but they also develop atmosphere and build layers very well too. Sometimes, they even combine these different facets, creating something else entirely. The songs are also more catchy and memorable than you might think, and have more hooks than is standard for something like this. Not that there are many entities like Arallu out there, I suppose. Arallu have carved their own niche, and they utterly dominate it.

The band’s songwriting continues to improve, successfully incorporating the above elements into moreish and infectious songs. There are many great examples spread out across the album, but two highlights for me are Devil’s Child and Trial by Slaves; both are particularly enjoyable exemplars of how to mix brutality and atmosphere to great effect.

I’ve said before that it’s very impressive how Arallu always seem to keep getting better with every release. I say this again now because En Olam is just as good as previous career highlight Six, and, despite the fact that I’ve listened to Six a lot more, is probably even better.

Essential listening for any extreme metal fan.