What We Need Is One Step Back and Two Steps Forward - A Review of Myrath's Karma

Myrath's sixth official full length effort Karma was already scheduled to be released last autumn but it was pushed back for about six months. Fans were instead overwhelmed with five different singles in the past few months. If that strategy was based upon the group's label, then the French-Tunisian quartet should realize that it deserves better and change business partners as soon as possible.

The group's new output Karma comes five years after Shelili and few things have changed on these eleven new songs with a total running time of forty-eight minutes. The band unites a steady heavy metal rhythm section with occasional djent riffs in combination with mellow symphonic power metal sounds and occasional folk soundscapes from the Maghreb. The songwriting is concise, focused and streamlined. Most songs come around with catchy choruses crowned by Zaher Zorgati's versatile, emotional and colourful vocals.

However, the quartet doesn't manage to unfold its full potential and overall delivers an album that qualifies as slightly above average at best. That unsatisfactory result is due to three precise reasons.

First and foremost, the production is bland, generic and streamlined as it suffocates any potential energy and makes the final result sound dull, lifeless and uninspired.

Up next, the songwriting features too much repetition. The quartet fails to take any risks on this output. The vast majority of tracks rushes by without leaving any lasting impressions other than mild boredom. That's even the case after multiple spins, so don't expect an album that might grow on you and surprise you in the long run.

Lastly, the band has completely abandoned its original identity as Middle Eastern progressive metal band on outputs such as Hope, Desert Call and Tale of the Sands. Instead, the band aims for commercial success with pop melodies, simple musicianship and mellow soundscapes. Myrath plays the kind of background music requested for the current Prince of Persia reboot. However, this talented quartet can be so much more than just that. Since success in the business department has still not been achieved so many years into its career, the band should sincerely go back to its beloved roots that made the quartet stand out in the very first place.

This is what Karma is all about after all. If you do good things to your fans and yourself, then good things will be happening to everyone involved and interested. If however you try to adapt a new identity that just doesn't quite seem to fit, the band might fall into oblivion and disrepair. While Myrath's Karma is still acceptable at the end of the line, here's hope that this output is the last of its genre and that the band starts exploring and experimenting again on its next studio record.

Final Rating: 70%