Myrath - Bristol Review

After a fairly local night out on Saturday, which saw me travel to Torquay for the evening to see Steve Hackett play through a few Genesis classics, yesterday I was back on the road again - this time up to Bristol. Despite having only visited Bristol recently, where I saw Marillion deliver a customarily fantastic performance at the Beacon last month, and its relative proximity to me, 2026 has not seen me visit Bristol as often as would be typical. For whatever reason, Bristol shows just have not been the most convenient this year - but it does feel strange to have not visited all that often of late. That is about to change, though, with four more visits planned for the next couple of months - and there are already a few things in the diary there for next year. Trips to Bristol are always enjoyable. It is a nice city overall, and the suite of venues it has on offer means that bands of all sizes can visit. It is lacking a proper arena-sized space, but rooms of all other sizes are essentially catered for - and they are all generally high quality spaces that bands enjoy coming back to. My Marillion trip in September found me at the Beacon, one of the city's larger rooms, but last night I was in somewhere much smaller - as my trip consisted of a night out at the Exchange, one of the smallest dedicated venues in the city. Whilst I prefer The Fleece and the Thekla when it comes to smaller rooms in Bristol, the Exchange has its charm. It is not the most pleasant place to be when sold out, but when there is a little space to move around it is enjoyable - and I have been to a number of quite memorable shows there over the years, even if it is not somewhere I visit too often. The reason for this visit was to see the Tunisian progressive/power metal band Myrath bring their latest European tour to the city. I have been a big fan of the five-piece for a number of years. I cannot remember exactly when I started listening to Myrath, but 2011's Tales of the Sands was their newest album at the time. I remember looking forward to, and pre-ordering, 2016's Legacy (which I reviewed here), too, so it was likely sometime in the early 2010s that I became a Myrath fan. Despite this, though, prior to last night, I had only seen them live once before - which was back in 2016 when they opened for Symphony X in London. I remember the band delivering a strong, but short, set that night - and ever since then I have wanted to see them properly. Since that Symphony X tour, though, Myrath had not returned to the UK until now. I am not 100% sure why it took the band 10 years to return - but a recent interview with them undertaken at one of the earlier UK dates suggests that visa were often an issue. They were scheduled to play at Bloodstock Open Air one year and mysteriously disappeared from the bill - which appears to be down to paperwork not being completed on time. I have always been disappointed by the lack of live UK shows by Myrath, so much so that I am just used to seeing their tour announcements lacking any UK shows, so I was very surprised earlier this year when multiple UK shows were included as part of a second leg of European shows supporting this year's Wilderness of Mirrors (which I reviewed here) - not just an obligatory London appearance. Perhaps the band getting booked to play at Quest Fest in Wolverhampton this past weekend allowed for the necessary paperwork to be completed - but whatever the reason I am very grateful that the UK were finally included, and that I could see them in Bristol without having to travel too far. As such, this was a show that I had been looking forward to since booking the tickets earlier this year - so it was with excitement that I walked up to the Exchange last night.

Given that there was only one support act, the show finished quite early. I was walking back to my hotel just after 10pm - and there was barely any waiting around during the night. The Exchange can sometimes be guilty of making people wait quite a while for the first band to go on - but the evening's sole support act Roses of Thieves went on at 7:30pm, following the venue opening at 7pm. I knew nothing about the Hungary-based folk metal band, but from the off I was quite impressed - and throughout the next 40 or so minutes a good time was had by all. The gig was not sold out, but there were still a decent number of people in the room by the time Roses of Thieves started. The band are quite new, having only been around for a few years, and seemed to be a violin player down, but their bouncy, accessible folk metal was easy on the ear - with the band having seemingly come quite a long way in a short space of time. They already have two albums to their name, with their sound based around accordion and violin (the latter of which was on a tape due to being a band member down) - as well as more traditional metallic riffing. Whilst I like folk metal, I often find it to be a bit cheesy. I tend to prefer the more 'serious' end of the genre occupied by bands like Eluveitie, but I really enjoyed Roses of Thieves' set - largely as there was a big dose of power metal and the folky elements did not seem all that gimmicky. The band just write poppy, memorable songs - and there was no real cheese to be found - unless one considers pop hooks inherently cheesy. Perhaps the cheesiest thing about the band's set were the dungarees worn by guitarist Miklós Kovács - but otherwise the band just rocked through their set and looked like they were having a great time whilst doing so. It helped, too, that frontwoman Ivett Dudás had a great voice and stage presence. She delivered to songs with real conviction, driving everything forward and connecting well with the crowd - despite what was probably a bit of a language barrier. It also helped that the band's material is so easy on the ear. Roses of Thieves are not the sort of band to try and inject progressive moments or other such left-field turns into their music. They stuck rigidly to their folk/power metal sound - with short songs built around folky melodies and strong choruses. I enjoyed essentially everything the band did, and there was a good atmosphere in the room as their set progressed. I ended up buying a copy of their latest album Demons Ascend after their set, so I am looking forward to getting to know band better going forward.

I did pop outside for a breath of air between the two sets, as someone decided it was a good idea to flood the venue with dry ice during the changeover, but I was soon back inside - and pretty close to the stage. The Exchange is one of those venues where the band have to walk through the crowd to get to the stage, so when the five members of Myrath passed me I knew that it was showtime - and soon the lights went down and the intro to The Funeral started playing over the PA. The band took to the stage, taking over from the intro tape at an opportune moment - with the silky vocals of frontman Zaher Zorgati soon filling the room. The Exchange might be a strange little place, but the sound quality last night was excellent. There was a good balance between the guitars and the keyboards - whilst the vocals were always high in the mix. For the next 80 or so minutes, the band ploughed through 17 songs - bringing the best of their North African-influenced progressive/power metal to Bristol. All but one of the songs from Wilderness of Mirrors were played, with the rest of the set made up of older tunes. The band are used to larger stages these days, but they seemed to be having a lot of fun in Bristol. Older cuts Born to Survive and Dance hit the crowd early on, with the latter in particular seeing plenty of movement from those gathered - before Dudás was brought back on stage for the duet Until the End. Zorgati did not speak to the crowd too often, but he did talk about the meaning behind The Clown, as well to offer his heartfelt thanks on occasion, but this just allowed the night to really fly by. Given that I was quite close to the stage, I felt transported back a few years - to when I regularly used to get to the front. It was one of the most fun gigs for a while, then, and I was just swept along with songs like Through the Seasons and Merciless Times - with chorus after chorus coming. I was in front of Malek Ben Arbia (guitar) most of the time, so it was great watching his eight-string riffing and melodic soloing up close - whilst Anis Jouini (bass guitar) seemed the epitome of cool much of the time, playing complex basslines with such a laid back demeanour. Whilst it would have been nice to hear some of my favourite older songs from the band, I cannot blame them for standing behind their excellent new album. Not enough bands do that, and hearing basically the whole thing live made me appreciate some of the songs more than I had previously. Still the Dawn Will Come, which is not one of my favourites from the album, sounded excellent - but songs like Edge of the Night and Breathing Near the Roar, which I already loved, sounded even better live. Myrath are a band for the stage, and their grand sound filled the room. I get the impression that the band are often a bit more theatrical live, but were likely limited by the space last night. Despite this, the music still across very well - and it was good to see Kévin Codfert (keyboards/vocals) actually playing a lot of the main string, etc., melodies live, rather than just adding atmospherics. There was an organic vibe to the set despite the band's complex sound, then, which was emphasised during the slower Soul of My Soul - with its lengthy piano-led sections and aching guitar solo. By this point, there was not much time left, but Endure the Silence and Les Enfants du Soleil were both late set highlights - with the latter turning to stage over to Zorgati's vocals in a big way. The brief instrumental Jasmin essentially acted as a showcase for masked drummer Morgan Berthet, as well as an intro to the band's anthem Believer - which brought the night to a close. There was a good amount of crowd singing during the number, and the band stretched it out, too, ending on a fairly low key note focusing on Zorgati once more. The setlist was:

The Funeral

Born to Survive

Dance

Until the End [w/ Ivett Dudás]

The Clown

Through the Seasons

Tales of the Sands

Merciless Times

Still the Dawn Will Come

Edge of the Night

No Holding Back

Breathing Near the Roar

Soul of My Soul

Endure the Silence

Les Enfants du Soleil

Jasmin

Believer

Given the 10 year wait, I am really pleased to have finally seen Myrath live properly. I have good memories of that support slot in 2016, but I am much more of a fan now - and it was great hearing so many of the band's best newer songs live last night. The small room did not phase them, and the crowd was having a great time throughout. Now that Myrath have been able to come to the UK under their own steam, I am hoping that it will not be another 10 years before they return. I will certainly make an effort to see them again when they return - and I am also now the proud owner of a Myrath shirt.