Band Interview: Arallu

Arallu are an extreme metal band founded in 1997 in Jerusalem. Described as Mesopotamian Black /Trash Metal they’ve carved out an expansive career & built a huge following both in & outside of Israel.

We here at GBHBL are very proud to bring you this interview!

1. How did you get started as a band?

Hello from Jerusalem.

Arallu was founded in Jerusalem, in the middle of the conflict between the religions around the old city of Jerusalem in the 90s. When you live as the terror is surrounding you. Want it or not, it inspires you whatever you do.

I remember the bus exploding next to me and the hatred comes through the news. I was 16 years old and the extreme black metal concept around Europe came to my life. Mixed with bloodshed around Jerusalem what brought Arallu band to life.

Arallu music is inspired by the events in the Middle East and Jerusalem, and the global terror around the world. I believe Arallu has its own sound and brings something new and fresh to the metal music. We work hard not to sound like other bands, and bring our own ideas and sound to the metal music around the world.

2. How would you describe your sound?

As a “Mesopotamian Barbaric black metal from the spirit of Jerusalem”

3. What bands/artists would you say have influenced your style of music?

I think you can find inside Arallu music, sounds like Absu, Slayer, Deicide, Morbid Angel, King Diamond, Mayhem, Bathory, Venom and many others. Together with mixed of Middle East music and Arabic music as coming from Jerusalem, Turkey and Egypt. About the lyrics, just look around you and you can see the Middle East is like a battlefield, every day we’re exposed to some new genocide or bloodshed here and there. For the last we can see it across the sea. Some places in Europe and United States too. From the wars of the ancient times as kings tried to rule Jerusalem, to the wars of today as ISIS are trying to destroy and kill anyone who doesn’t agree with their religious views. All this inspired our music and of course our lyrics.

4. Has the rise of YouTube & music streaming helped or hindered you as a band?

It’s very hard to fit in the metal global scene of today. There are a lot of metal bands all around the world. And the music is online more than on CDs. When you publish a YouTube link of a new video or a new song, at the same time thousands of new song are published too, so it’s hard to get the opportunity for new fans. We performed in Switzerland, Hungary, Germany and Turkey. We supported Mayhem, Enslaved, Behemoth (twice), Marduk and Tribulation in Israel and we get really great reviews about our sound and show. Next month for the first time after almost 20 years since Arallu was founded, we will play in a real metal fest in the Czech Republic – ‘Metal Gate Death Fest’ together with Napalm Death, Dodheimsgard, Avulsed and others. I don’t think Arallu got a real chance to break. After Almost 20 consecutive years of the band’s creativity, 5 full albums and 3 DVDs we deserve to a real chance to show the global metal scene what we are. But unfortunately this chance has not come….

5. What do you enjoy doing when you’re not making music?

Except music and Arallu, I spent a lot of time with my wife and kids, we go on trips and go to the movies and look to spend a great time all together.

6. What are your future plans musically? Tours?

We finished now the final mixing of our new album pre-production. We are looking for a new label to release it as soon possible, and April 2017 we going on tour probably , but this time in the East of Europe era.

Thanks for your time, all the best guys!

Thank you very much for this great interview and I hope we will come some day to perform in UK. we’ve never performed there before and it will be a honour for us to do it!

We’d like to thank Arallu for the interview. Make sure you have a look at their back catalogue & merchandise from their bandcamp page here. Make sure you give them a like over on Facebook, check them out on MySpace & on YouTube.

You can check out our review of their latest live DVD offering, Middle Eastern Battlefield here.