Satanic War in Jerusalem

Arallu are a really underrated Israeli black metal band. They don't play total kvlt BM, but instead focus on a more oriental approach to black/death very similar to Melechesh- which dominates the oriental black metal scene. Satanic War in Jerusalem is the band's sophomore output, and doesn't fall of quality from the material of their big brothers Melechesh.

The album starts with a speech about religion and LSD, and after that comes the song Jewish Devil which has one of the most unique and odd riffs in black metal. All pinch harmonic oriental styled madness which then is accompanied by vile death metal growls and then by Abbathian black metal screeches. This formula accompanies the whole album- outstanding oriental riffing, really tight drums, great vocals and an audible bass (which is pretty rare in black metal). Because of the variety that is shown throughout the album, no song sounds the same, even though all of them have the same concept and basis- all have an oriental style riff, accompanied by some really great drumming patterns which vary from blast beats, thrash influenced sections, d-beats, and even oriental breaks (such as the one in The Butchered Attacks Again! ). The most interesting thing about the music of this band drum-wise is that to make the music more oriental styled there were added goblet drums to the drum kit, which fit well in the musical context and make it more rich.

Atmosphere-wise, this album is truly bestial and barbaric- in contrast to the atmosphere Melechesh tried to deliver in their music which was more spiritual and "cultivated". Instead of that, the band goes full frenzy in here and deliver one of the rawest and savage approaches to black metal the Middle East has ever known. The production in this album is well made, and gives every instrument its chance to shine- which adds by itself to the rich variety and atmosphere of the album.

The lyrics here suck really hard. They were written in a very broken English, but the Hebrew and Arabic spoken word/sung parts and the bestial vocals make over it. Overall, this is a really great album and is definitely placed in the top 10 Israeli black metal albums ever made. Very recommended.