Middle Eastern metal has continued to bubble away during the last decade, many of its protagonists hampered by their relative isolation from the international scene, despite the internet allowing the occasional band to break through.
Voice Of The Soul hail from Kuwait but have long since relocated to Dubai. Now almost a decade old, the band’s musical abilities are obvious.
Originally labeled a melodic death metal band, debut full-length Catacombs suggests they’ve outgrown such descriptions, the compositions here giving nods to Gojira and Opeth with their technical yet emotive touches and progressive approach.
In fact, with a song like Cold Rupture the band display even greater ambitions, incorporating piano and clean vocals and somehow hinting at both shoegaze and stadium ballads – no mean feat. These undercurrents don’t always gel perfectly, but this album would suggest a bright future lies ahead.
