Wyatt E. return with their third album `zamāru ultu qereb ziqquratu Part 1` (music from inside the Ziggurat), the first chapter of a two-album set in which the Belgium-based unit deepens its mythical exploration of ancient Babylon through the eyes of the exiled captives from Jerusalem.
The album features two drummers, a wide array of Middle Eastern instruments and contributions from seven international artists including guest vocals in ancient Akkadian and Aramaic languages by Nina Saeidi from Lowen and Tomer Damsky from Atonia on two songs.
`Qaqqari la târi Part I` which seems to translate to mountains of history leads us in and initially it has a recurring almost hypnotic pulse before Middle Eastern instruments join and lead us into a more ghostlike sound. There`s some anguished wailing on route with spoken word dialogue before the track becomes heavier with some intricate guitar riffs. The number quietens down and closes out with a mesmeric percussive beat.
We have in `Kerretu Mahrû` a number which seems to be about the culture of death and opens with a regular vibrating heartbeat sound which expands volubly and musically and mirrors the sound of something on the march before melding into `Im Lelya` an ancient Aramaic fable that was said on the days of Belshazzar, the last Babylonian king, and it prophecies in monstrous allegories the fall of the kingdoms of Babylon, Persia, and Greece to let the world be destroyed by the new kingdom of Rome. This composition features Jerusalem’s choir conductor Tomer Damsky`s ethereal vocals in Aramaic shared atop a fascinating blend of guitar riffs and divine percussive beats.
`The Diviner’s Prayer to the Gods of the Night` is an ancient Babylonian poem used in night divination, a rare practice as most rituals were performed during the day when the main gods were believed to be awake. At night, the diviner had to appeal to distant constellations, guardians in the darkness, since the doors of heaven were shut. This ancient Akkadian poem, written in cuneiform script, embodies humanity’s urge to glimpse the future to overcome a bleak present, symbolized by the faint hope of distant stars. This collaboration has Iranian singer Nina Saeidi adding her alluring and enticing vocal range in Akkadian over a mixture of Middle Eastern instrumentation on this trancelike otherworldly offering. The final cut comes with `Ahanu Ersetum` which appears to awaken slowly with distant vocal tones and melodic aural soundbites, riffs and percussive beats that become fairly rhythmic, absorbing and spellbinding.
`zamāru ultu qereb ziqquratu Part 1` is a really appealing and absorbing listen and has been tagged as Music for Gods of the Ancient World. It`s blend of doom alongside a Middle Eastern influence gave it an almost spiritual reverence at times. I`m sure if you allowed some time for it, it would reward you some most unexpected aspects and ways.
Rating 8.5/10
