Picture it. The Goat Review hideout, 2025. I tell the crew I’m listening to Wyatt E. “What is that,” they cry, “Cowboy Metal?”. I’m going to tell them that no, Zamāru Ultu Qereb Ziqquratu Part 1 is doom metal with a Middle Eastern twist (the name being a clue there), but once they mention it, I can hear a certain Morricone-esque spaghetti western twang. I guess music for staring balefully at deserts is music for staring balefully at deserts, wherever you are. Yet those Middle Eastern accents are prominent, and so too is a certain stoner drone doom vibe. Wyatt E are wearing a lot of hats here.
And it’s glorious.
In case you hadn’t guessed, Wyatt E really impressed me with their third full-length tribute to the old gods of Mesopotomia. They impressed me from the moody intro of “qaqqari lā târi Part I”, with its droning melody and counterpoint lead that shimmers like hot summer air, to the lingering notes left after the brooding post metal riffs of “Ahanu Ersetum”. Wyatt E‘s sound is a mix of low aggressive guitars, stomping rhythms, lush Middle Eastern influenced leads, and soaring female vocals thanks to guest spots from Tomer Damsky and Nina Saeidi (Lowen). Those different elements sound like they were made to be to best friends forever, like Gilgamesh and Enkidu, and the diversity prevents boredom from ever setting in despite Wyatt E‘s unhurried pace and repetitive passages. More than that, the way the elements comes together gives an psychedelic edge to Zamāru Ultu Qereb Ziqquratu Part 1, in that when I close my eyes, I am in another place, another time. “The Diviner’s Prayer to the Gods of the Night”, Saeidi‘s guest spot, in particular leaves me with an eerie sense of awe of the sort I associate with Dead Can Dance at their most haunting.
Coming in at a trim 35 minutes, Zamāru Ultu Qereb Ziqquratu Part 1 is immensely listenable. So much so that after my first listen, I hit play again immediately and become slightly obsessed ever after. I’ll be working my way through the rest of Wyatt E‘s discography to see what stacks up to and I’ll also be listening to this again and again. Zamāru Ultu Qereb Ziqquratu Part 1 is a mesmeric masterpiece that demonstrates how to take a fistful of influences and turn them into one evocative, powerful whole. The only thing left to ask is when do we get Part 2?
