Al Namrood - Worship the Degenerate

Gathering at the altar of decadence.

(Originally submitted to the Metal Archives on May 24th 2022) 

Al Namrood is a band I’ve had a soft spot for ever since I discovered them back in 2020. It’s not so much that they’re one of my favourites or anything, but their unique take on black metal, and the influences they inject into it make for quite an interesting listen. Couple that with the difficult conditions under which they make their music, it’s hard not to root for them. 2 years after Wala’at, we’re being graced with the band’s newest full-length, Worship the Degenerate, an album that presents us with many changes, some more welcome than others.

I’m gonna address the elephant in the room right off the bat: Humbaba’s gone. To me, he’s been one of the band’s defining characteristics outside of the instrumentation, with his vocal antics being one of the things I enjoyed the most about them. Whether he’d chant, gurgle or yell his lungs out, his theatrics added a lot of flavour, and he was arguably the heart of it all. Newcomer Artiya'il isn’t necessarily bad, he rasps, growls and gurgles well enough, but I can’t help but feel like something’s missing from Al Namrood’s sound. It took me a bit to get fully accustomed to what I was hearing, and while I find his performance to work in the context of the album, I can’t help but lament what could’ve been.

As for the music itself, it has progressed compared to the last two (10 Years of Resistance notwithstanding) albums, primarily in terms of extremity. Worship the Degenerate is the band’s shortest release to date, clocking in at just short of 26 minutes, and its brevity is only matched by its intensity. This is Al Namrood at their harshest, with a lot of the more mid-tempo and atmospheric tendencies being replaced by raging black metal riffing and drumming, all while maintaining their trademark Middle-Eastern flavour. “Protector of the Herd” tears through your speakers after a short introduction, its razor sharp riffing culminating in a tasty breakdown that commands a reaction out of the listener. The real highlight of the album though is “Guerillas”, another no-holds-barred rager that also features some militant drum patterns, which become all the more visceral when combined with the traditional instruments and the ambient combat sounds.

For how brief this album is though, it’s very much still plagued by filler. The last two tracks grind its relentless pace to a near halt, feeling woefully misplaced, and to an extent mismatched with what came before them. “Eclipse” and “Free Will” are both instrumentals that not only feel tacked on to the end as an afterthought, but also take up 8 minutes of Worship the Degenerate’s runtime. The former feels like an older Al Namrood track (circa Diaji Al Joor), that one could easily imagine Humbaba over. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was an unused instrumental from the band’s older works really. As for “Free Will”, it just maintains this down-tempo, low energy approach established by the track that preceded it, being an almost 4-and-a-half-minute long outro that has nothing to show other than the folk instrumentation. It’s honestly quite disappointing that things end like that, because had those tracks been replaced or improved upon we could’ve had some of Al Namrood’s most energetic output to date. Instead we’re given 18 minutes of high-octane black metal that are followed by 8 minutes of boredom. That’s a pretty bad ratio if you ask me.

As for the production, it’s somewhat lo-fi, yet fitting the music, as one would expect. The sharp, buzzing guitars lay down some ferocious, yet coherent and flavourful riffs, supported by very punchy and present drumming (that is probably programmed). The bass is lost in the mix, trying to be heard during the slower segments but remaining buried under the kick drums and the metallic snare, which has been an issue the band has been dealing with for quite some time. As for the Arab instruments, they all sound quite good and are implemented excellently, adding an extra layer of atmosphere to the proceedings.

It’s safe to assume that Worship the Degenerate was very much affected by outside interference, that this time went beyond the difficulties Al Namrood has been faced with during their existence. Humbaba’s departure, and the pandemic undoubtedly contributed to making the creation of this album an even bigger challenge than it would’ve been under normal circumstances. Its incomplete and somewhat shoddily put together nature definitely affects the listening experience, but despite that there’s a lot to like about this album, even with all its drawbacks. These guys have always been quite endearing to me, and I feel compelled to support them even through missteps such as these. I honestly hope that they continue on this path, cause there's quite a bit of unrealised potential that I'd love to see fulfilled.

Highlights: Protector of the Herd, Guerillas

Rating: 73%