Coat Of Arms it’s a metal/groove band based in Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and they just released their brand new collection of furious riffs, angry vocals and unstoppable grooves.
I’ve got a soft spot for these Middle and Far East, Oriental sounding bands, Acyl was a really great and pleasant surprise last time, and not so long time ago, but I must mention also a few other exciting bands I wrote about such as Nervecell , Orphaned Land, Melechesh, Absolace and Arkan. Well, unfortunately Coat Of Arms delivering a very Western (American) type of groove metal without adding any Oriental flavor to it. Fortunately they do it very well, they have a great sense of melodies and deliver some grinding you into the ground kind of solid and powerful riffs. Their sound it’s fueled by the Pantera branded rhythmic and riffs merged with some nu metal after-taste (Slipknot) and metalcore infusion (Alexisonfire). They find an excellent balance between melodies and brutality. Singer Rayan Bailouni manage to sing like a rock star and scream/howl like a dying devil and switch smoothly to one into another creating additional groove to their music and adding expressiveness.
My favorites are “Composure to Remain”, “Pixels”, “Pessimist”, “BrundleFly”, “Black Holes”, but this is a nicely balanced, consistent and well build-up album throughout.
[bandcamp album=3916517644 bgcol=bae8d7 linkcol=3e2263 size=grande3]
Coat of Arms are a four-piece band originally formed by Mohammad Rayan Bailouni. After gaining some local attention the band underwent some member changes leading to Liam taking over on bass, and Kareem on drums.
They released their first album “Inheritance” in 2009 featuring 15 tracks. The album got positive review on Metality.net: “there is no doubt that the guys are on the forefront of the modern metal scene in the Middle East”. The band won numerous polls and awards online as the “Best Upcoming Musical Artist”. The first official single to come out of the album was “Open the Dams”, with the band recording an official music video.
In 2010, the band started a country-wide DIY tour,”The Str8 Edge Tour”, the last date ending with Coat of Arms opening for German Thrash band HATRED at the Metal Asylum Open Air Festival 2010. The band was later featured in Germany’s biggest metal magazine “Legacy Magazine” alongside HATRED.
Aside from opening for local legends NERVCELL in January 2011, they went on to compete at the RAM Battle of the Bands and were crowned “Best Band”, winning a 5-date tour of Malaysia. The band recently played at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi at the Yas Rock Factory, held before he “30 Secs to mars” concert.
The band has featured in Rockablity Magazine, The National, The Gulf News, and aired on Abu Dhabi TV following their show at the YAS. Their newest release “This is Manslaughter” was released on the 17th of March, 2011. Songs such as “Ballad of the Mariner” and “Timepieces”which made its way on to multiple metal compilations.
From 2011-2013, Coat of Arms took time off to write and record their latest release “Sun & Satellites”. The album was mixed, mastered, and produced by Diego Farias of the California-based Djent band Volumes.
Tracklist:
01. Dimensions Revealed 01:01
02. Notes & Chords 03:33
03. Black Holes 03:28
04. Pessimist 03:29 lyrics
05. Composure to Remain 04:00
06. Pixels 04:42
07. The Feeding 00:27
08. River Weser 03:37
09. Skies Craved 03:56
10. The Forming Abyss 01:47
11. BrundleFly 03:01
Current line-up:
Lead Vocalist/ Guitarist – Rayan Bailouni
Bassist – Liam Ruddell
Guitarist – Amir Chaouch
Drummer – N/A
Coat Of Arms @ Facebook
Coat Of Arms @ Bandcamp
Coat Of Arms @ Soundcloud
Coat Of Arms @ YouTube
Coat Of Arms @ Twitter
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jugOh4ValvQ?list=PL3C74F785F66CBE9A&w=545&h=307]
