During my weekly descent into the depths of Bandcamp, I stumbled upon something unexpected: Thabar, a new duo from Iraq that hurled their debut demo onto the platform on November 14th — and for some reason, the release pulled me straight into the dark.
Thabar consists of Lord Hadad and Lord Gallu: Hadad handles all instruments, while Gallu provides vocals and keyboards. From Baghdad, Hadad has previously assaulted the world with projects such as Temple of Enki and Al Uzza, although none of that material ever surfaced in physical form. Now there is finally a tangible statement — and it bears the name Thabar, literally: to crush, break, destroy, shatter. Few names fit a band so well.
The demo contains four tracks: three Black Metal compositions and one experimental noise wound that crawls deep under your skin. All titles are in Arabic, so Google Translate had to be summoned to decipher the hellish cryptic naming. The opener “Qiam Alsaaeat Wahudur Ruh Alzalam Alsharu Almutlaq” (The Day of Judgment and the Arrival of the Spirit of Darkness, the Absolute Evil) immediately sets the tone: an aggressive, raw sound that is surprisingly mature for a project emerging from a country where extreme music is constantly under pressure. It grabs you by the throat — without mercy.
The first track races forward at a merciless pace, but Thabar dials things back slightly on the following two tracks, pushing into a heavy, pounding Black/Doom territory.
The final track, “Akdhubat Almasih Akadhubat Alnasr” (The Lie of Victory), abandons all convention. With sirens, falling bombs and torturous noise, it unmistakably evokes a protest: against a country that, even after the supposed “liberation” from the Hussein regime, still knows no safety, no calm, no horizon.
The Rise of Evil is a surprisingly strong demo: raw, honest, dangerous and absolutely worth checking out.
Thabar proves that extreme music can take new forms even in the most war-torn regions — and that pure expression cannot be bombed into silence.
80/100
Thabar:
Bandcamp