Artist

Myrath

Ben Arous, Tunisia

Myrath is a music group from Ben Arous, Tunisia. Their discography on Gatefold includes 8 records.

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8

Albums tracked

2

In collections

—

Since

Biography

Myrath (which means Legacy) was formed in early 2001 under the name of XTAZY by guitarist Malek Ben Arbia, just 13 years old at the time, with two of his childhood friends Fahmi Chakroun (drums) and Oualid Issaoui (guitar). The line up was shortly after completed by Zaher Ben Hamoudia (bass) and Tarek Idouani (vocals). Myrath first started playing in local concerts a variety of songs of different styles of their favorite bands which goes from blues to heavy metal to death metal.

The Arc of Myrath

The pivots — what forced Myrath to reinvent.

  1. The Codfert Connection

    When Kevin Codfert of Adagio found the band’s early demos, he didn't just sign them to Brennus Records; he became their de facto sixth member. His production on 'Hope' stripped away the amateur basement hiss and replaced it with a cold, clinical European power metal sheen. You can hear the struggle on that record between their technical progressive roots and the emerging North African identity they hadn't quite mastered yet. It’s the sound of a band learning how to use a real studio as a weapon.

  2. The Zorgati Era

    Swapping their original singer for Zaher Zorgati before 'Desert Call' changed the chemistry from a technical project to a stadium-ready powerhouse. Zorgati brought a pop sensibility and a vocal range that allowed the band to move away from pure prog-metal noodling toward big, hook-heavy choruses. This was the moment they stopped chasing Dream Theater and started embracing the 'Blazing Desert Metal' branding. The songwriting got leaner, the production got warmer, and the folk elements finally felt like they were part of the composition rather than just an intro track.

  3. The Cinematic Shift

    Starting with 'Legacy' in 2016, the band doubled down on a massive, symphonic sound that owed as much to film scores as it did to heavy riffs. They stopped being a club band and started writing for the big stage, incorporating high-budget visual storytelling into their identity. This pivot culminated in 'Shehili' and 'Karma', where the technical prog-metal elements were almost entirely subsumed by polished, arena-sized production. The grit of the early days is gone, replaced by an obsession with precision and an undeniable pull toward the mainstream metal charts.

Influences

  • Symphony X — Malek Benarbia has explicitly cited Michael Romeo’s neoclassical shred as the reason he picked up the guitar. You hear it in the staccato riffing and the heavy use of the Phrygian dominant scale on 'Hope'. It’s the structural blueprint they never fully abandoned.
  • Dream Theater — The band started as a tribute act for these guys under the name X-Tazy. The odd-time signatures and the keyboard-guitar unisons on their first two records are straight out of the 'Images and Words' playbook. Even when they went poppy, that technical foundation stayed in the rhythm section.
  • Adagio — Kevin Codfert isn't just a producer; his band Adagio provided the dark, symphonic template Myrath used to bridge the gap to Europe. The orchestration on 'Tales of the Sands' feels like a direct descendant of Codfert's own arrangements. They effectively became the protégés of the French prog-scene.
  • Angra — Myrath has frequently cited the Brazilian band as the gold standard for blending regional folk music with heavy metal. The way Angra integrated Brazilian percussion showed Myrath that you could be hyper-local and still tour the world. The rhythmic bounce on 'Believer' is a dead ringer for that South American power metal swing.
  • Fairuz — Zaher Zorgati grew up on the legendary Lebanese singer and has referenced her vocal phrasing in multiple interviews regarding his melodic approach. You hear it in the melismatic flourishes he adds to the choruses on 'Shehili'. It’s what gives the band their actual 'desert' soul instead of just using it as a gimmick.

Discography

Their records — most-collected first.

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