It is always interesting to hear an Extreme Metal band from a country that is not known for its metal scene. So here we have Azaab from Pakistan.
The name of the band means “torment” in their native language and what they offer are nine tracks plus an instrumental intro of Progressive Death Metal or at least that’s how their style is defined on their Metal-Archives page. Azaab exist since 2016 and ‘Summoning the Cataclysm’ is their debut album.
After the acoustic intro ‘Pandemonium Twilight’, the first track ‘Carbon Plague’ strikes with a mixture of heavy Death Metal guitar riffs and remarkable melodic leads. Excellent work from the guitar duo Afraz Mamoon and Shahab Khan! I can hear plenty of influence from the latest works of bands such as Kataklysm or Cattle Decapitation but without (thanx Sheitan!) the laughable singing of the latter.
‘Hollow Pact’ and ‘Preachers of Hate’ are slower songs and have strong Immolation vibes mainly coming from the vocals of Saad Latif whose growls remind of Ross Dolan. The rhythm section in the face of Waqar Ghayas on bass and Adhitya Perkasa on drums also deserves praise for its impressive work and twisted rhythm patterns. Just hear the outstanding track ‘When Worlds Collide’ for blast beats and lots of tempo changes. ‘The Infernal Citadel’ will make you break your neck with its speed and aggression which continues on the following ‘Trophies of Flesh’ despite its acoustic beginning. There is also a cover of Decapitated’s ‘The Empty Throne’ from their 2004’s ‘The Negation’ album which shows another of the Azaab’s influences.
As a whole, Azzab’s debut full-length album is something that you should not miss if you like technical Death Metal with brutality and melody combined. Or probably Immolation with more melody is a proper definition. Azaab are undoubtfully a very talented band and hopefully we will hear more from them (and the Extreme Metal scene in Pakistan) in the future!
