Arallu, an Israeli black/death metal group, released their sixth LP this past year. The record continues the band's fusion of oriental and Middle-Eastern folk music with extreme metal.
Frontman Moti Daniel (aka Butchered) spoke to us about the act's latest album, the metal scene in Israel, black metal, and more. You can check out the full interview below. Also, be sure to order their new CD by clicking here and check out more artists on their label Transcending Obscurity here.
You recently released your sixth studio album. Can you discuss the writing process and how it differed from previous albums?
Yes, we recently released our sixth album through Transcending Obscurity Records, continuing the same artistic line from the 90's. We try to stay loyal to the old school black metal sound while reinventing it by giving it an oriental twist and follow a Middle-Eastern theme in every album. We have worked hard to make the album different than the ones preceding it. The world is full to the brim with thousands of great bands and music and if you want to stand out you have to do something new. Previously, we incorporated sitar and oud. In Six we used saz in our music and it really brought something different. I believe for the next album we will utilize newer instruments that we’ve never used before and optimize our sound in order to remain fresh yet authentic.
There’s use of instruments, melodies, and sounds that are foreign to American or European ears. Can delve into more detail about the Asian/Middle-Eastern aspects of your music?
That is true. Throughout the years we have combined the Middle-Eastern music that we grew up listening to along with metal music which we got into later. When I was introduced to European black metal in the 90's, the sound of bands such as Emperor, Satyricon, and Mayhem fascinated me. I remember thinking to myself, "I can feel the winter and snow coming through the speakers! I want to play like this!” Also the lyrical content about their history and religions and wars really intrigued me. And then I said to myself, "Damnit, I'm from the Middle East!” The history of our land is full of stories of war and bravery. It all happened as the first Intifada started. I remember suicide bombers exploding on buses, in restaurants, and even on the streets almost on a daily basis, killing hundreds of people and injuring and traumatizing thousands. It's shown very well in our new video clip for “Oiled Machine of Hate" and all the footage in the clip is real. The streets of Jerusalem are filled with the blood of these people, religious and non-religious. It was a religious war all around the country. The news on TV were filled with these horrifying pictures of body parts, people screaming, and burnt down buses. I remember as a child it was very difficult for me to process and writing the lyrics to my first album was a coping mechanism. It almost wrote itself. The music my father used to listen to day and night was from all around the Middle East – Turkey, Israel, even Egypt. I was trying very hard to figure out how to combine the oriental rhythms and guitars with the blast beats and shredding of the Norwegian style of black metal that I loved so much. It took me some time and eventually when the first demo came out it was received really well and it shocked people in and around Israel.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKJBmfkmXvU[/youtube]
Arallu has been incorporating black metal into their music since the 90’s. In what way has the overall black metal sound evolved since then?
Well, what I really like about black metal is that every band brings its country to the music. Like Marduk who brings the Swedish accent to it, Mayhem brings the Norwegian accent, and Arallu brings the Israeli accent. In my opinion black metal is the style that evolved the most throughout the years.
What other bands do you feel are worth knowing within the Israeli metal scene?
The band that brought extreme metal to Israel is Salem, who is unfortunately not active these days. Of course there are the guys from Orphaned Land who make very unique music and are becoming a bigger band each year and it's great to see that. There are many other bands in the Israeli metal scene but unfortunately they are not as brave as the two I mentioned before and don't really try to sound different and that's a shame.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pyP248dClw[/youtube]
What are some of the main difficulties of being a band within Israel?
With Arallu it's a bit different. The metal crowd here ironically mocks Middle-Eastern music because it's our folk music here in Israel. The Israeli metal crowd is very young and it's hard for them to understand the combination. What they don't know is that the Middle-Eastern music scene experienced exactly what the metal scene is experiencing over the 80's. The society and the media mocked it, they didn't let the artists perform in big clubs and all the industry was underground. They performed in warehouses and sold bootleg cassettes on the streets, until just recently when it broke the barrier and now it's a well-regarded form of music here. I hope that the same will happen with metal soon, as even today many clubs do not allow metal shows, and metal is considered a violent and immoral music, exactly like it was with the Middle-Eastern music in the 80's.
How has the Israeli metal scene changed from when you started your band until now?
In the late 90's and early 2000's there were about three metal concerts a year from outside of Israel and there were relatively few local metal bands performing quite a lot. The number of metalheads in Israel didn't really change throughout the years but the number of bands increased dramatically. You barely see a metalhead that doesn't play in a band nowadays. So if in the 90's there were 3,000 metal heads and 6 bands, today you still have 3,000 people but you have more than 100 bands. I'm not sure if it happens everywhere but the numbers are very interesting.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPOLabHmOVE[/youtube]
What recent metal releases are amongst your favorites?
Wow, a lot. There’s the last Abbath that reminds me of the music that I grew up listening to. Then the last Rotting Christ album is really refreshing and interesting. Satyricon, who were always innovative, released a great album and are frequently able to bring something new to their music. The comeback of Paradise Lost, as I call it, is one that that brought them back to business for me. And the new Morbid Angel is great. Finally they came back to their senses.
What do you have planned for the future of the band?
For now we don't have a real offer to tour or come to play at a festival, which very much disappoints me. Our dream is to perform in Brutal Assault, Hellfest, and Inferno Metal Fest. In the meantime, we already started working on a new album which we hope to finish writing in a few months.
Anything else you’d like to announce or have coming up?
I would like to thank you very much for the great interview and hope that it will help people who are in search for our kind of exotic-sounding black metal music discover Arallu. We have worked very hard over the years and hope we are able to please them.
