El-Ahrairah

After years of inactivity, Minnesota’s El-Ahrairah returned in May of 2016 with not only their first proper full-length but also their first release in several years. While the band’s initial handful of demos were comprised of mostly ultra-raw, ultra-noisy black metal, the newly reformed band’s debut album features a drastically tamer, cleaner sound. This comparatively quieter style allows the listener to clearly hear all parts of the music, as opposed to their being blended together in a frantic cacophony. While this change in sound does allow the band to better highlight the more melodic aspects of their songwriting (as the melodies can be clearly heard now), the lack of constant static booms and hisses only seems to reveal how one-dimensional their approach really is.

El-Ahrairah is an exercise in simple, repetitive songwriting. Most songs seem to utilize a simple songwriting method, often repeating one lead guitar riff (the “verse” riff), followed by another lead (the “chorus” riff), both being accompanied by a drum beat that changes little throughout each track’s duration (if at all). This “riff cycle” of two repeats for the majority of each track, perhaps slightly varying by the track’s end. As the songs progress, additional elements are sometimes introduced to provide a sense of musical progression--whether they be a synth melody, a harmonized lead, or a bridge section with an entire riff of its own--all while the original rhythms and riffs continue to play again and again.

While the idea of slowly building onto songs as they progress is itself--at least in theory--a novel-sounding idea for a black metal band to try, El-Ahrairah never seem to go far enough with it to get their songs to actually go anywhere. It’s as if El-ahrairah is meant to function as the stretching of the band’s creative wings after years of inactivity; instead of springing back to life and leaping for the sky by indulging in new and interesting songwriting directions, they seem (for now) like they’re only interested in playing it safe and testing their abilities by composing simpler pieces that only flirt with new ideas--just to see if they’ve still “got it” as a band at all. And they do for the most part still “got it”; each of the individual tracks on El-Ahrairah is fairly straightforward, accessible (though crude) black metal that is far more pleasant than offensive to the ears.

The problem is simply the repetition of this same problematic songwriting schtick that never allows tracks to fully come into their own, and cuts them off before they’re ever given a chance to ripen properly. Taken on their own, each track is fairly competent, albeit rather unexciting. Taken together, though, the pieces feel like an unfinished album--more like a demo still needing to be fleshed out before being put to tape. While opener “Stone Throwers” and “They Wore the Wind”, for example, function well as a simple fast black metal tracks, slower pieces like “Gates of Dawn” and “Drown Alone” feel as if they’re waiting to be taken somewhere more interesting and just keep playing the same rhythms in the hopes of getting there, though they run out of gas before that’s ever able to happen. El-Ahrairah is a competent band; they know how to compose interesting riffs and melodies, and they’ve found an interesting songwriting schtick to play around with.

They just need to figure out how to use it.

El-Ahrairah, their name taken from the book Watership Down (which I still need to get around to reading), have released a slew of demos going back nearly a decade, but have only now gotten around to recording their debut album. El-Ahrairah sounds very much like a demo, featuring bare-bones raw production. While it would not be unreasonable to assume that a raw black metal album featuring a heaping helping of crust punk would be as filthy and unfriendly as it gets, this is surprisingly accessible. With infectious melodies and atmospheric keyboards rising above the grime, this debut finds a nice balance between beauty and filth.

While inarguably a black metal band, I don't think it would be a big stretch to say that El-Ahrairah have the soul of an epic crust band (or neo-crust if you're into using cringeworthy terminology). From what I can tell, their ideologies match up pretty closely with the crust scene, there are definitely some riffs here that would fit right in with the more melodic side of crust and the melodies seem to be ripped straight from the playbook from bands like From Ashes Rise and Fall of Efrafa. It's completely plausible that the Watership Down connection is creating some sort of cognitive bias, but these guys do remind me of Fall of Efrafa in a lot of ways. On their own, most parts of this album are pretty simple. The melodies and riffs are very straightforward and there are certainly no guitar gymnastics. The main melody to "Ostrakon" is as simple as it gets but is a instantly a clear winner. The rasps are very run-of-the-mill albeit well executed. The drumming is staunchly utilitarian, using extremely simple and obvious beats and never deviating from the formula.

While also generally quite simple, it is really the keyboard parts that give this album the push it needs to go from good to great. Used only sparingly, they breach the mire at all the right moments to propel the tracks to a higher level. Although often quite ambient in nature, there's a part in "Madeline and Edmund" that almost seems to be ripped right out of excellent atmospheric folk metal band Saor's sophomore album. Featuring sombre chanting to go along with the keyboards, the opening to "Cut Like Rogues" is one of the album's finest moments. Clean vocals are also used in the epic album closer "Rind of the Earth" to great effect. They have stumbled onto a great formula with the whole raw black metal with epic crust melodies thing, but it is really the more atmospheric and expansive moments that make this album shine, and this is something I hope they expand on in the future.

Barely spilling over the half hour mark, there isn't really much room for El-Ahriarah's simplistic and to-the-point sound to wear out its welcome. You're not going to like this if you're a stickler for quality production, but the rawness really works here and provides a very welcome contrast to the catchy melodies and atmospheric keyboards. There's really not much to complain about. Sure, the drumming is kind of boring, but it doesn't really take away from the album. If there's one minor gripe I have, it's that all the standout tracks are clustered towards the end of the album, with the first four songs being the least memorable (although still pretty badass, of course). El-Ahriarah has done a great job with their debut album and I'm intrigued to see where they'll take their sound from here.

Taken from the children's book Watership Down, black metal group El-Ahrairah's name translates to 'Prince of a Thousand Enemies.' But when they create music as great as what's presented on their first full length release, following a slew of demos' it's hard to imagine that they would have as many enemies decrying their efforts here.

The production may be raw and perhaps slightly muddy, but this comes across as arising from a degree of necessity stemming from lack of time and funds rather than a genuine aesthetic desire to sound grim and necro. Indeed this is not a slab or frostbitten blastbeating second wave worshipping black metal, instead the sound here is warm, gorgeous and melodic. The main emphasis El-Ahrairah put into their music is the depth of these gorgeous melodies, just listen to the lovely shimmer of synth in the middle of Drown Alone or potential commercial success Madeline and Edmund. Their melodic sense seems to be rooted in post-rock, with pleasant and infectious riffs played high up the fretboard, creating memorable and beautiful tunes without any need for solos or wankery, the lead guitar being the loudest part of the mix most of the time, with the rhythm a trebly and raw slab of blackened distortion bubbling away under the surface.

Indeed all the songs here are short and to the point, with nine tracks at barely over half an hour, they allow no room for anything superfluity or pretension, they just take you from one awesome riff to the next.The vocals are high pitched screams which bring to mind the elitists' scourge Deafheaven, but with it's completely riff-centric approach it's beauty filtered through a pure black metal aesthetic that would placate any Darkthrone fan. The bass tone is warm and audible throughout with it's simple riffage, and other than a few places such as White Kingdom featuring all out blastbeats, the drums mostly punch through the melodic riffs with a rhythmic snap. The tracks are all varied, with each showing a penchant for melody. White Kingdom is more of a traditional black metal piece with a dark wall of sound and blasts, Drown Alone is a punchy catchy track with emotional melodic riffwork, Melanie and Edmund is sweetly beautiful with stirring synths in a track that could be a big indie hit, while closer Rind of the Earth could rival the most epic black metal bands out there with it's big sound and clean vocals.

Perhaps the cover itself is an indication of the album's contents. There isn't a black metal label in the world without at least several covers plastered with images of trees or forests. But with the warm reds and playful pastel style, El-Ahrairah's seems to show that they play fully fledged black metal but turned on its head - a warm, inviting and endearing listen rather than obeying the usual tropes of harsh, raw and scathing. It's limited to just 100 cassettes, so if they receive the due attention deserved from this release, then you'd be wise to pick up a copy sooner rather than later.

Originally written for swirlsofnoise.com

I don't mean for the title or what I'm about to state to sound insulting, but based on the distribution information, my expectations were not high for this album - we're talking about an album from the present year with its physical release limited to 100 copies on cassette. Oddly, El-Ahrairah was recorded in 2014 but not released for nearly two more years, and that time certainly was not spent on mastering the recording. This is raw black metal not in the Nattens Madrigal sense, but rather the "we could only afford two days of studio time and 100 blank cassettes" sense.

So, how does this album actually sound? Rich, incredibly. The lower range of tones is denser than in most modern black metal releases, sounding almost sludgy at times, although at the loss of some clarity in the riffing. This is not necessarily a bad thing - perhaps unintentionally, it creates an interesting effect in the opening of the first track, in which the guitars seem to be playing in a much slower meter than they actually are, causing their riff to sound like a polyrhythm when the drums enter. Ambient passages and clean vocals are also scattered throughout the album. The vocals, for the most part, are exactly in line with what one would expect from a raw black metal release, yet the listener is presented with an ambient chant that comprises the majority of Cut Like Rogues, and Rind of the Earth sounds like it could have conceivably been cut from The Mantle.

The influences are all over the place - any particular track may expose the listener to dark ambient, second-wave black metal, folk, punk, or post-rock. Some of this material borders on commercial accessibility, in particular Madeline and Edmund. Emotionally, the band explores far more area than is to be expected. Much of what's on display here is dark, certainly, but this album is more melancholic and resigned than it is angry, despite the usual howl of the vocals.

El-Ahrairah is a complex release, despite its short running time. This is dense material, with so much going on in such a short span that it is difficult to give a sufficient summary without breaking down the minutia of each track. It has taken me several listens to form much of an opinion about it, but I know this much - I like it quite a bit, and I look forward to giving it many more playthroughs.

After countless demos (I’ll admit I haven’t heard any of them), the Minnesota project released their debut full length back in May and it’s surely one of the best black metal albums I’ve heard this year.

What makes this great is the emotional weight of their succinct numbers and the ability to mix the rawness of their black art with an alluring and almost joyful aura. Songs like “Madeline and Edmund” or the calm and soothing moments on “Cut Like Rogues” really bring a gloomy but melancholic atmosphere to the band’s identity. Like some members of the USBM movement, El-Ahrairah does possess some slight punk leanings (listen to “Gates of Dawn”) but it’s also some sort of concise epic black metal with rough but really discernible guitar riffs. They also clearly explore depressive rock territories (à la Lifelover) at times. The mix of sounds is carefully crafted and done with the utmost care and talent.

The vocals are pretty vitriolic and strident in the best way possible, they’re loud in the mix but this impetuous formula works wonder for the thundering and abrasive sound they picked. The band also really shines when they use sparse but totally surprising clean vocals like the end of the superb closer “Rind of the Earth”. There’s nothing wasted on this record, it’s an essential album, really.

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