MYRATH – Interview with Malek, Zaher, Seifeddine, Elyes and Anis

“Myrath” is Arabic word meaning “legacy” In case of MYRATH – the band is successor of the musical Arabic tradition. The tradition is transmit by Prog-Power Metal arrangements. It causes really very curious and exotic effect. Obviously if someone is open for musical novelty

You come from very exotic country. Supposedly Tunisia is very liberal country. What is the opinion of Arabs about metal music and metalheads? The many people from Europe and U.S.A. think about Metal music like about devilish music hahaha…

Malek Ben Arbia (Guitars): In Tunisia like in other Arabic countries (such as Morocco, Lebanon and Jordan) there are many metal bands and thousands of metalheads. Obviously like in the USA or Europe some people do not appreciate too much metal music or metalheads However we strongly believe that music is what brings people together notwithstanding their ethnic background, or religion, it brings a message of love and peace to all nations. All metal bands and fans share the same passion and the same values; they are alike no matter where they come from or what the religion of their country of origin is Tunisia is a peaceful tourist country located on the Mediterranean coat just I hour flight from Rome (Italy), it a country very open to other cultures, this is why for instance we have a weekly Metal show on the national radio station, which also has a streaming 24 Hours webRadio (www.zanzana.net). We also have a Mediterranean guitar festival held each year which allowed many famous bands such as Robert Plant, Adagio, Bertignac, Epica, Fire Wind, After Forever and Haggard to play in Tunis in the past few years. In addition we have very active Tunisian metal webzines such as www.zanzana.net ,www.metal-waves.com and www.sombrearcane.com that support the Tunisian and international metal scene. However being a metal band in Tunisia is still tough in the way of getting its music across the borders because of lack of labels, promoters and support from the sponsors, and the main stream media. The Tunisian Metal scene is still very underground like in many other parts of the world.

However your texts rather are not about religious subjects. And what are your texts? Do your music and texts carry some important message?

Zaher Zorgati (Lead vocals): Most our lyric are written once the music is composed so we let Aymen Jaouadi (our closest friend and lyrics written) express in words what the music we composed inspires him, but in general most lyrics talk about todays society, love, deception, hopes and fears but we never write about any political or religious issues, simply because we strongly believe that everyone is entitled to have his own opinion and faith.

Elyes Bouchoucha (Kyboards/Vocals): Not really we just write about day today life of todays society, but in some of the tracks such as Ironic Destiny we sent a message of love and peace ,an anti war message if you wish. In our previous album the track Hope had a message intended to all the people who struggle in todays society ,telling them to keep fighting and never give up no matter how tough the challenges are.

You are very talented musicians. You connected heavy metal sounds with folk-Arabic influences very easily. How do your countrymen accept this kind of music?

Seifeddine Louhibi (Drums): Well they definitely love it ,because the mix between prog-power Metal and traditional Tunisian music, is done in a very subtle way and it is still prog-power Metal that make people headbang in some tracks and feel the emotion in others. This kind of blend between Occident and orient t will be Myrath trademark in the next albums.

And European or American metalheads?

Zaher Zorgati (Lead vocals): We are certainly aware that by putting more emphasis on the Tunisian traditional music mainly on the orchestrations parts and by singing on the exotic Arabian scales, some of the tracks might be too much for some Westerners ears. However I think that it brings something that is fresh and exciting to the prog-power Metal genre especially that nowadays there are just too many progressive metal bands that sound alike. Even though It may take some time for the western metal fans who are not very open to other cultures to get used to this mix of Orient and Occident, we are confident that we will win the hearts of many fans worldwide the same way a band like Orphaned Land did, that does not happen overnight, it just requires patience and self confidence, we got both. However we are very pleased that so far DESERT CALL was acclaimed by most critics and has contributed to expending Myrath fan base. We have not seen too many critics even thought we are aware that no matter what we do we will never please to every one.

Do you know some different bands playing in similar climates? Once I listened Spanish TAIFA and BREED 77 from Gibraltar…

Seifeddine Louhibi (Drums): I guess the closest band would be Orphaned Land but Myrath has a different style ,a different approach and the vocal parts are much more melodic.

Were your first albums “Double Face” and “Hope” in similar climates also like “Desert Call”?

Malek Ben Arbia (Guitars): Not at all, the first album Double Face was more of a demo, it was self produced and the band first composing and recording experience, we were still in our teen years at the time and the Symphony X influence was very present (looking back it was probably just too much). Hope was our real debut album, it was acclaimed by the media and won us many fans. Even though we have introduced some Arabian tunes in a couple of tracks ,the influence of Symphony X was still present especially on the vocals side. Concerning our latest release Desert Call, I would say that the album is in line with Hope but yet different in many ways. First of all we have a new singer (Zaher Zorgati) who has a much softer and melodic voice than Elyes, so that helped us staying away from the Symphony X influence at least on the vocals side. The album is also more melodic with a lot more Arabian tunes and orchestrations, and a great production by Kevin Codfert yet its still prog-power Metal Myrath way with very diverse tracks. I think that, with Desert Call, Myrath has brought something new to the prog-power Metal music, by a somewhat new genre which mixes metal with traditional Tunisian tunes in a way different from what other band did before (As far as we know anyway).

Personally I am delighted of “Desert Call”. The melodious Metal and Arabic melodies joint by progressive glue. What does inspire you to such arrangements?

Elyes Bouchoucha (Keyboards/Vocals)|: The idea to introduce Tunisian melodies and use some Arabian scales goes back to 2007 when we released the album Hope. In view of the comments of some critics and the advice of our producer, we knew that we had to come up with a style of our own and stay away from the influence of our favorite bands. When Zaher Zorgati joined the band in the summer of 2007, we had the versatile singer and composer we were looking for to use the mix between metal and Tunisian tunes in a much more melodic and emotional way and still keep the powerful metal side. So when we started writing Desert Call we just let our inspiration of the moment guide us throughout the composing process, knowing that the inspiration to combine prog-power Metal with traditional Tunisian melodies comes naturally from our occidental influence and Arabian background. To this respect I wish to emphasize the fact that each song comes from the heart, we never fabricate music and this is certainly the main reason why the tracks of our albums are so diverse.

On the album “Desert Call” you also used traditional folk instruments. Who are people who play on these instruments?

Zaher Zorgati (Lead vocals): Well we just hired professional session musician to record the traditional instruments which we have used for the orchestration. However our drummer Seifeddine Louhibi did play most of the Darbouka parts (some kind of traditional percussions).

How you mentioned before – Kevin Codfert (from ADAGIO) was the producer of Desert Call and Stephan Forte (ADAGIO) played one of solo like guest. How did you start your co-operation with these persons?

Malek Ben Arbia (Guitars): It all started when we opened for Adagio and Robert Plant in the Mediterranean guitar festival which was held on 24 March 2006. In Carthage roman amphitheater Tunis-Tunisia, that day we met Kevin Codfert (Adagio keyboards player and also sound engineer and producer) who later on became and still is Myrath Producer. Thus Kevin produced our official debut album Hope, then follow up album Desert Call and will continue producing our next albums. Kevin is more than a producer, he is pour friend and assist us in managing our carrier and promoting the band. We have also got to know the other Adagio band members as we shared the stage with them a couple of time. They like us a lot and have always been very helpful and supportive of Myrath especially Stephan Forté. Since Desert Call was mixed by Kevin Codfert in his Home studio in Nanterre – France. Stephan had the chance to listen to the album, he liked it so much that he offered to play a guess solo in Ironic Destiny in an effort to support and promote Myrath. We wish to take this opportunity to than Stephan for his great guess solo. We are really honored to have such a great guitarist play in Desert Call.

Malek Ben Arbia began his adventure with playing in band in age thirteen years! Was he youngest member at that time?

Elyes Bouchoucha (Keyboards/Vocals): Malek Ben Arbia is Myrath founding member, he was and is still the youngest band member (he will turn 23 on August 2nd 2010). It was in 2001 that Malek formed Myrath when he was only 13 years old with 2 of his childhood friends who left the band since. The band was named X-Tazy at the time and was changed to Myrath in 2007 (right before the release of Hope). So X-Tazy and Myrath are the same band its just the name that was changed. Malek is among the main composers, he is also a 2006 graduate (at the age of 18) from a prestigious French guitar school known as M.A.I.(Music Academy International). In addition the manager of Myrath is the father of Malek who happens to be a huge metal fan since the late seventies. We even rehearse in the house of Malek parents so Malek is the leading force of the band even though he is the youngest. Obviously that does not mean that the other band member are not as important, we are all part of a team named Myrath. Each one of us contributes to the composing process and works very hard for the best interest of the band.

The label Kartel Music occupied the release of “Desert Call” in Poland. Do you have some information about demand for your album?

Zaher Zorgati (Lead vocals): Well I dont really have any details concerning the sales and distribution of the album as we will not get the first statement until next July. However I understand that our labels are very pleased so far with the volume of sales and the great feed back from the media and the fans. The album is distributed in several European countries by our French labels (XIII BIS RECORDS) and in the rest of the world by our American label (NIGHTMARE RECORDS). I presume that the album is also distributed in Poland but I have no details concerning the distributor.

The name of ROBERT PLANT also appears in your history…

Seifeddine Louhibi (Drums): Well we were just one of the opening bands when Robert plant played in the Mediterranean guitar festival which was held on 24 March 2006, in Carthage roman amphitheater Tunis-Tunisia.

What concert do you remember the most pleasantly?

Elyes Bouchoucha (keyboards/Vocals): Actually I can state more than one. The first memorable moment was on 24 March 2006 when we opened for Robert Plant and Adagio in Carthage roman amphitheater Tunis-Tunisia in front a record audience of about 7000 metal/rock fans of various generations. We were all still in our teen years so we were really impressed to meet a legend like Robert Plant and hang around Adagio (one of our favorite bands). The second memorable moment was our first concert outside Tunisia, it was on May 2nd 2008 in Progsud Festival (France) we were really pleased to take part in such Festival and meet so many wonderful people, we even met fans who came from Belgium just to see us play live. All the concerts we played in Tunisia (the latest one being with Haggard on 24 March 2010) in front of hundred of cheering faithful Myrath fans are all special moments that we will never forget.

Did you have some give-aways on concerts? You play the music very advanced technically. Is hard to play such music on the stage probably?

Seifeddine Louhibi(Drums): Technically our music is indeed very advanced but we have never had any problems playing it live as we prepare our shows by rehearsing as many times as required for the orchestral backing tracks the way most bands do.

What is your plans for the rest of 2010 year?

Anis Jouini (Bass): Well for the rest of 2010,we will be touring mainly Europe (our labels are currently working on it) and playing in some festivals starting by prog-power Europe 2010 which will take place in Baarlo Holland from October 1st through October 3rd 2010. In the meantime we are working on a new album, which is at a very advanced stage and plan to record it by the end of the year for a release during the first quarter 2011.

Thank you for the interview. The end interview belong to you…

Malek Ben Arbia (Guitars): Thank you for this interview and for your valuable support. We highly appreciate it. We wish all the best to you and to all the readers of Metal Center Webzine and look forward to meeting some of them during our upcoming European tour.