Pentagram (Mezarkabul) – Unspoken | Metal Territory
27/09/2026
Pentagram from Istanbul, known outside Turkey also as Mezarkabul, released “Unspoken” on September 21, 2001. On their fourth album their thrash past gives way to more progressive and doom sounds, with a strong oriental color.
Country: Turkey Genre: Progressive metal, thrash metal, doom metal For fans of: Savatage, Iron Maiden, Candlemass, Metal Church, Orphaned Land
The album combines the heavy riffing of founding member Hakan Utangaç with the operatic vocals of Murat Ilkan and with rhythms that constantly change direction. The band’s melodic identity is underlined by traditional instruments such as the ney and the zurna, giving the material an oriental texture, without turning it into folk metal.
Standing out are “For Those Who Died Alone”, where the zurna can be heard, and “Lions In A Cage” with its characteristic Turkish riff — perhaps the most recognizable they have written. In the lineup are Murat Ilkan on vocals, Hakan Utangaç and Metin Türkcan on guitars and Cenk Ünnü on drums, with guests Ilhan Barutcu (ney), Mustafa Sorgun (zurna), Burak Gürpınar (percussion) and Erdem Tarabus (keyboards).
“Unspoken” came after “Trail Blazer” from 1992 and the more melodic, at times folky “Anatolia” from 1997, and showed a band with a more complex way of writing, which left behind the war-themed lyrics for more philosophical, existential and historical subjects.
Our take
“Unspoken” explains in the best way why the Turkish scene deserves more attention than it gets. Pentagram don’t copy the English and American models: they pass them through their own musical tradition and come out with something that resembles nothing else of its era.
See also
SUBMASQ – Spirit Animal · Early Moods – Ready For the Grave
