Tunisian progressive powerhouse Myrath exploded onto my radar with the absolutely stunning debut Hope, and cemented their status as a go to group for epic, distinctive heavy metal with their sophomore release Desert Call. Proving the validity of the age-old expression, to say their third album Tales of the Sands is a charm would be the understatement of the year. Myrath continues to refine and improve upon their signature brand of epic progressive metal, and with the exception of a couple of missteps, the results are stunning.

The album kicks off with the effective “Under Siege,” with crooning female vocals, eastern synthesizers providing an attention-grabbing intro, heavily grooving percussion and the majestic vocals Zaher Zorgatti. It must be noted that Zorgatti will receive much praise in this review, as despite the immense talent on display, he truly is the star of the album, eclipsing his already impressive performances on its predecessors. The guitars are devastatingly heavy, with slick, refined leads. “Braving the Seas” is a bit more anthemic, with a very memorable chorus, overall a bit more straightforward and less progressive, but certainly not to the detriment of the song.  “Merciless Times,” the band’s chosen pre-release track serves as the most accessible song on the album, with a slew of melodic hooks highlighted by extensive use of hand percussion that mixes flawlessly with the rest of the song. Combined with an impossibly catchy chorus, this is certainly a demo-worthy track for those unfamiliar with the band.

The title track follows, and in an interesting move, the song is sung partially in a foreign language (my ear is not confident enough to say what, I would assume one of the many languages spoken in Tunisia), and it lends the song a mysterious feel, and with extensive use of strange eastern melodies, the experience is breathtaking. I wouldn’t call it the best song on the album, but I can see why it was chosen as the album’s namesake. “Sour Sigh” follows, as is by a short straw my favorite, most repeated track. It begins with a powerful, heavy riff replete with dominant synth melodies and a driving beat that really sinks in well with the music. The star of this piece is Zorgatti, and he really lets it go, with passionate, soaring vocals that I can never get out of my head. “Dawn Within” is one of the lesser tracks, and is distinctive mostly due to the use of shouting/growling vocals that artificially enhance the “heavy” factor of an already pretty heavy song. Overall, it seems a bit out of place.

“Wide Shut” is a fairly generic track with little to distinguish it amongst its towering peers. It’s follow up “Requiem For A Goodbye” fairs much better, with a solid dynamic between punchy rhythms and soothing keyboard melodies, and yet another standout performance from Zorgatti. “Beyond the Stars” kicks it up a notch with a powerful head banger that will likely see many rotations on the band’s live set, and its easy to see the crowd really embracing this one as a mainstay. The closer “Time to Grow” could probably have been placed differently in the overall context of the release, as it is a kind of cheesy, poppy heavy ballad with a fist pumping structure that might have been better served earlier on. That said, it’s a decent track and leaves the listener literally wanting more, if only because it is a bit of a perplexing outro to a pretty epic collection of songs.

Production wise, there is little to say that hasn’t been said about pretty much every modern progressive metal band’s sound. It is dynamic, crystal clear, the musicians are at the top of their game and all have their own solid piece of the listener’s attention. In short, everything sounds gorgeous. While I am still partial to their debut album because of how amazingly fresh it all sounded, this album the natural evolution of a superb band, and I can only imagine great things for them going forward.