BLASPHEMOUS BAND IN THE HOLY LAND
By Rafi Yovell
Deep within the catacombs of Israel’s underground music scene, there exists a band whose music is so intense, so dark, so evil, you’ll never hear them on traditional airwaves. And that band is the black metal group from Ma’ale Adumim, Arallu.
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal full of distorted guitars, shouted vocals, and lyrical content based on occult concepts.
Despite being an underground band, Arallu perform regularly — both locally and abroad, and are an integral part of the Israeli extreme metal scene alongside other acts such as Winterhorde, Ma’anish, and Shredhead. They’ve released seven albums to date, with titles like The War on the Wailing Wall, Satanic War in Jerusalem, The Demon from the Ancient World, and their upcoming album, Death Covenant.
Given those album titles, you might think Arallu’s frontman, Moti “Butchered” Daniel, who works as an extreme metal vocalist by night and a border policeman by day would be difficult to talk to. However, when I interviewed him, I encountered a patient and thoughtful intellectual filled with insights about how the underground music industry operates.
With that all said and done, let’s hear more about the band from the frontman himself:
How was a black metal band founded in Ma’ale Adumim of all places?
“It all started in the late 90s when I was in the army and began listening to Norwegian black metal. During this time, a wave of terrorist attacks swept our nation. The bloodshed was horrifying and I experienced it first-hand. This combination sparked within me a deep resentment towards religion. It made me realize that all the wars going on here are rooted in religious beliefs, which resonated especially well with me, seeing how black metal as a genre criticizes religion, as well. As a result, I was motivated to pick up my guitar and start writing songs. The riffs and lyrics just came naturally. If you take a listen to the first two Arallu albums, The War on the Wailing Wall and Satanic War in Jerusalem, you’ll notice the songs and lyrics are more extreme there than in any of our other releases. Everything was about the terrorism and relentless bloodshed going on in Jerusalem back then. From that hardship and the music I was listening to, I created Arallu and the first two albums as a one-man black metal project. I only acquired new members a few years later, turning Arallu into a fully-fledged band.”
Arallu has released seven albums so far. For anyone who’s new to your music, which album do you think is the best to start with, and why?
“I’d suggest starting with our fifth and least extreme sounding album, Geniewar. For those who are more fascinated by the Middle Eastern folk elements in our music, the next step should be the fourth album, Desert Battles. After that, move onto the two most recent albums, Six and En Olam, saving the first three for last. Unless you’re already an extreme metalhead, I don’t recommend listening to our discography by chronological order. Like I said, the first two records are much more brutal and intense than the rest. As for the third album, The Demon from the Ancient World, it has a very raw, bare-bones production quality, making it difficult for many newcomers to get into.”
Many of your songs and albums have very shocking names, like Satanic War in Jerusalem and Religions Are Dead, and I wondered whether they’re meant to be symbolic, of if you’re just trying to be provocative.
“We’ve never aimed to be provocative, nor are we a political band, but reality led us to give our works such shocking titles. The second album, Satanic War in Jerusalem, came out while Jerusalem bled. Back then, the streets at night were empty, everyone was too scared to leave their houses, buses blew up, and the air reeked of death. The massacre here was appalling. That’s why the album is called Satanic War in Jerusalem; there was a Satanic war of religions in Jerusalem at the time and the album title symbolized that. The ‘Satanic’ part is a metaphor for religions slaughtering each other. The same goes for the song Religions Are Dead; the meaning behind its title is that once religions die, so will wars. In other words, religion causes all these wars to exist. We’re not a band that believes in religion, nor are we an atheistic band. However, we understand that the essence of religions, especially the three Abrahamic ones, is war.”
A common theme in Arallu’s music is the fact that since ancient times to the present day, the Middle East has always been synonymous with wars and political conflict, and the fires of division are showing no signs of dying anytime soon. However, it’s been reported that you’ve gotten along well with some other metal bands from countries like Lebanon and Iran. After connecting with these bands from countries that oppose Israel, do you think metal can help bring an era of peace and understanding to the Middle East?
“I wish, but sadly, no. There’s only so much we have control over. We don’t hate Arabs, Iranians, or Lebanese folk. We hate terrorists, the extremists who use religion in a cynical way to further their own twisted agendas. We flew to Turkey and met people from Iran and Lebanon. We sat down over a beer and even publicized a famous photo of our three passports together; one Israeli, one Iranian, and one Lebanese. If our work leads someone to become more tolerant or wish for peace, great. But understand that as a black metal band, our goal isn’t to create world peace with our music or anything of the sort. We create extreme music about topics that make us angry. I truly hope peace will come to the Middle East one day, but unfortunately, mankind is unable to reach such a goal. There’s so much interest in land and money to a point where regardless of which leaders come to power, they’ll forever keep this war going, because someone is gaining something from it.”
Some of Arallu’s songs feature what sounds like dialogue among Israeli soldiers on the battlefield. Were those segments inspired by your army service?
“Those samples you hear of soldiers at war are used in our fifth album, Geniewar. It’s a concept album about wars in Israel, and even includes covers of two old Israeli folk songs about the topic; Hayalim Almonim and Giv’at Ha’tachmoshet. The samples are taken from documentaries about these wars, and we included them to make the listener feel as though they’re in the middle of a warzone. Thematically, Geniewar goes over the history of wars here, from resistance against the British mandate, to the founding of Israel, to every war Israel fought. It’s a very interesting concept album full of both clear and hidden meanings, fascinating both musically and thematically.”
Are there any artists outside the metal genre you’ve been inspired by?
“Yes, a few Israeli ones. I’m quite a fan of Berry Sakharof, an Israeli artist who makes very strange rock music, Ehud Banai, who adds a Middle Eastern touch to his rock, and Zohar Argov, who brought Middle Eastern music into the mainstream. There’s also Knesyat Hasechel, a band from Sderot. Our music treads on the line between Israeli/Middle Eastern music and extreme metal. Personally, nearly everything I listen to is metal, but every now and then I’ll enjoy something else like Deep Purple, the Israeli bands I mentioned, and when I’m with my kids, sometimes we listen to Coldplay. But all in all, I’d say 90% of the time I listen to metal, and the rest is a handful of Israeli bands I’m quite attached to.”
What kind of sound can fans expect from Arallu’s upcoming album, Death Covenant?
“Death Covenant takes our music a step further. In the previous records, we’d write the songs on guitar first, and add folk instruments later. This time, we decided to do it the other way around; we started off by writing metal riffs on a saz (Middle Eastern string instrument) and only added the guitars later to serve as a lead. In other words, our upcoming album’s sound is entirely different from everything else we’ve made so far.”
The style you primarily use for your music is a combination of black metal, thrash, and some Middle Eastern folk melodies added to the mix. Should we expect any releases experimenting with other genres in the future?
“No. Arallu’s style is a mix of the two worlds we grew up with; Middle Eastern music and extreme metal. I can’t imagine ourselves adding jazz or a saxophone to our songs because that’s not what we’re about. I’m sure there are plenty of bands that are much better with those types of genres than we’d be. The same goes for our future content; it’ll all have the same style as everything we’ve released so far. I might make other projects in the future using other genres, but if so, they’ll be under a different name, not Arallu.”
What are your thoughts on the landscape of today’s mainstream music?
“I’m so disconnected from it to a point where I can’t even give you a straight answer. I stick to what I do best and for better or for worse, don’t stray away from it. Even if I hear a decent mainstream song on the radio, I won’t become invested in it. I stay inside the bubble I’ve created for myself. The same applies to the rest of Arallu, we don’t get involved in what’s popular if it’s not the same kind of music we make. Even mainstream metal doesn’t interest me. For example, I can’t name a single Slipknot song because as far as I’m concerned, they’re a pop metal band. Instead, I’m into underground bands who make music that has a deeper meaning rather than something surface level which appeals to a wider audience.”
There’s a stigma within black metal that bands should always remain part of the underground scene. Artists like Myrkur and Dimmu Borgir have been looked down upon within the black metal community for either appealing to a wider audience or signing onto major record labels. Do you guys plan on staying in the deep underground, or would you sign onto a bigger label if given the opportunity?
“We, Arallu, don’t believe in staying underground for the sake of it, nor would we sell out to become famous. Instead, we believe in making music we’re proud of which suits our style and sending it to record labels. We’d be happy to sign onto the big ones like Nuclear Blast or Season of Mist, as it’ll help us reach more people. But if they’re not interested and we remain an obscure band, that’s fine, too. We follow our own rules and choose to do with our work as we see fit. For example, our next album will be released by Hammerheart Records, one of the bigger record labels for extreme music, but we weren’t making our album with the intention of signing onto Hammerheart or any other specific label. I’d never make a song I don’t like just because it’d appeal to a big company. That’s why our music is so distinct; it doesn’t try to please anyone. If you like it, great. If you don’t, move on.”
Unfortunately, most black metal bands don’t make much money off their work. What other jobs do you have besides being in Arallu?
“Now I’m a border policeman, but I was a soldier when the first album came out, and by the time the second one was released, I finished my military service and didn’t have any money. At the time, I got a bunch of offers from promoters in Europe to tour and give concerts there. I’m almost certain that had I taken up the offer, I would have earned a lot of money off my music and moved to Europe, like what Melechesh (another Israeli black metal band) did. Instead, I chose to find a serious job here in Israel and keep creating music as a hobby. In other words, I’m in Arallu for the sake of music, not profit. If I end up making some good money through the music, great, but that’s not my top priority with the band. The rest of Arallu’s members are with me on this, each one has their own separate job as a main source of income. Sure, we make some money off our albums, merchandise and live shows, but that income goes to the band so we can up the budget on music production, make higher quality products, and perform more concerts. Even if we were to sign onto a large record label, I doubt we’d earn enough money to a point where we could ditch our main jobs, but we’re perfectly fine with that.”
What was it like, seeing huge black metal icons such as Mayhem, Behemoth, and Marduk be fascinated by your music?
“Well, Behemoth have done countless live shows over the years. They’ve heard so many opening bands from all over the globe, they’ve seen nearly everything, not much surprises them anymore. I believe that while they’re waiting for the opening bands to finish before a live show, they sit down, drink beer and eat their dinner backstage. Whenever Behemoth would perform in Israel and we’d open for them, I remember turning around and seeing them standing up, looking at us from backstage. This means something in our music spoke to them. When Mayhem had a show here and we did a soundcheck with them, they stood up front and observed how we were doing it. Neither band personally complimented us because in black metal, people don’t praise one another. Maybe in some of the bigger festivals they’re more buddy-buddy amongst themselves, but in the shows I’ve been to, I’ve rarely seen that kind of mutual commendation. Once the show’s over, I always tell the bands ‘well done, guys! Great show!’ even if the show wasn’t good, all to boost their morale. However, there haven’t been many cases where the main acts would praise us the same way after a show ended. But seeing these popular groups who’ve been around for a long time and heard countless opening bands stand up and pay attention to our music? That’s extremely flattering.”
Black metal is by no means a music genre that’s easy for the casual listener to get into. However, if there’s anything Moti Daniel and Arallu prove, it’s that even in some of the most extreme, aggressive music one can come across, profound philosophies and underlying meanings lay hidden for those willing to look deep enough. Genies, demon hordes, and gateways to Hell may not exist in Israel, but terror, conflict, and wars do. Therefore, despite Arallu’s lack of fame or recognition, their music will likely remain relevant for a very, very long time.
Don’t miss out on Death Covenant coming out in November 2022, and for more information about Arallu and their performances, go to https://www.facebook.com/ARALLU666/
