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Comes with 24×18” poster and 20 page risographed booklet
Cover and poster screen printed in three colors
All music written and recorded by Haram
Nader, James, John, Scott
Recorded in NYC by Scott Tamucci
Mixed by Scott Tamucci and Arthur Rizk
Mastered by Arthur Rizk
Artwork by James Stuart
Our take: New York City hardcore punk band Haram returns with their first new recordings in six years. While Haram’s previous records have all been striking, this new album explodes into technicolor without leaving the heaviness or intensity of their previous work behind. If you’ve been following Haram since their inception, you’ll notice right away that this new album has more ambitious production than previous Haram records, not only capturing the the richest and most powerful tones we’ve heard from any of the band’s recordings, but also making space in the mix for each player’s contribution to shine and allowing the music to go places only hinted at on previous records. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of straightforward hardcore punk on ليش الجنة بيتبلش في الجهنم؟ Why Does Paradise Begin in Hell, and it is excellent. The album’s lead single, “Persecution – اضطهاد,” puts the band’s existing fans in their happy place with a hooky, mid-paced riff meant to get the pit agitated, ably set off by an arrangement that ebbs and flows eloquently. With a solid decade of experience, Haram attacks hardcore with the skill and precision of veterans, building their songs around infectious main riffs (see “Sinner – كافر” and “Secret – سر”) and arranging them to maximize their power and impact. But it’s the spaces where Haram departs from the hardcore playbook that really stand out. There’s a lot more lead guitar on ليش الجنة بيتبلش في الجهنم؟ Why Does Paradise Begin in Hell than on previous Haram records, and their guitarist has a unique style, avoiding both the pentatonic patterns and chromatic anarchy that typify hardcore lead playing in favor of melodies and lines that lean heavily on middle eastern modes and scales. These leads sometime get deployed as more or less traditional rock guitar solos (see “Sinner – كافر”), but they’re even cooler when they function as the song’s main instrumental hook, as in “The Last Night – ليل من اخر ليل.” And then there’s the drumming, which is also both creative and powerfully performed. I’m not sure I’ve paid much attention to Haram’s drums in the past, but they’re total fire here, largely avoiding fills in favor of repetitive, typically tom-centered beats that ride the line between propelling the songs and peppering them with interesting rhythmic syncopation. And then there are Nader’s vocals, which are the star of the show for most listeners, I’m sure. Arabic’s cadences and palette of sounds aren’t something you hear paired with hardcore punk every day, and they pull against these songs’ rhythms in exciting ways, with Nader’s performance soaked in passion and energy. I only wish I could read Arabic so I could understand the songs directly rather than through the English translations. As we expect from both Haram and Toxic State, the packaging is also exquisite, with a unique and evocative color scheme on the hand-screened LP jacket, a big poster, and an illustrated lyric booklet. If you love bands who take hardcore punk to new places while maintaining the intensity and directness that make the genre great, Haram’s new LP is one of 2015’s un-missable releases.