Barki

Born in Beirut, Lebanon and residing in Brussels, Maltash (Arabic for ‘Wicked’) is an experimental musician attempting to deconstruct industrial metal, hip-hop and Arabic music into a new genre he labels ‘post-tarab.’ While not having an equivalent word in English, tarab is often used to describe the emotional effect of music, as well as to refer to traditional styles of Arabic art-music. In the act of rooting his sound in older traditions, Maltash draws upon wedding music and music of the Greek Byzantine Church, as well as the Islamic call to prayer.

The soundscape is stark and monochromatic, with heavily modulated guitar lines being loosely stretched across harsh drum-machine beats, with occasional samples of traditional instruments adding texture. Maltash's voice soars above this dissonant tableau, as if being broadcast from a minaret. The bleak, abrasive quality of the production evokes early industrialists such as Throbbing Gristle and Killing Joke, the polemic post-punk of Big Black, as well as the guitar-based noise experiments of Keiji Haino and Merzbow. However, in his connection to history, as well as the forging of a new soundworld rooted in those traditions, Maltash has created a work that is both unique and forward-thinking.