Melechesh have always had a rather distinctive sound and one I have a great fondness for, owning every album of the last decade at least (with the exception of their 1996 debut, As Jerusalem Burns). Emissaries was an exceptionally good black thrash album and was one of my favourite releases of 2006 with tracks like ‘Ladders To Sumeria,’ ‘Gyroscope’ and ‘Sand Grain Universe’ literally ripping you a new one while the middle eastern nuances lent a unique atmosphere and kept things interesting. Four years on, there have been a couple of changes namely that Proscriptor left his drumming post to focus on Absu and this is the first album to feature Xul on the skins, and of course they have joined the sparkly ranks of Nuclear Blast.
At over 70 minutes in length, The Epigenesis was certainly not an album to get to grips with on one listen, in fact it could be said it’s their most challenging album to date. Melechesh have never been your run of the mill black thrash band, and it’s fair to say they have always had plenty of scope for progression and this album demonstrates a new level of maturity that separates this from previous offerings. We start things off with the cool, cruising melody of ‘Ghouls Of Nineveh’ which is naturally enhanced with an eastern affliction that I’d describe as golden and enchanting. ‘Grand Gathas Of Baal Sin’ comes well and truly blazing in with an air of Mesopotamian menace. The clear rasp of Asmedi is fearsome and the drums punishing as hell. This has a huge, hulking melody and a real stomp to it while the guitars have an angry waspish tone to them.
The clean vocals that emerge on ‘Sacred Geometry’ are a nice touch and bring an epic flavour to things. The riffs really pack a metallic punch, but there’s a lot of the progressive noodling here that is not that much short of sounding self-indulgent. This seems considerably more complex than past outings and does lack something that made Emissaries so memorable. By now we’ve arrived at the sand dunes of the desert and the heat rises on ‘The Magickan And The Drones’ intro, while ‘Mystics Of The Pillar’ is heavy but unhurried, rather like a snake hissing and slithering through the sand slowly. There’s a really psychedelic vibe to ‘When Halos Of Candles Collide’ it has an air of mystery to it and if I’m in the right sort of mood it just makes me want to lay back and watch the stars and swirly colours float about in my mind. ‘Defeating the Giants’ follows on and the hard thrashiness is a stark contrast. It’s dirty, venomous and really takes a swipe for the throat and is the one I can quite easily imagine a moshpit formation to.
This is certainly a good album, but for me it’s going to be one I’d have to be in the right mood for listening to and isn’t as easy to enjoy as previous works. There’s far more complexity to this album, with not only two lengthy instrumental tracks but also a lot of instrumental parts hidden in the music and it does feel ever so slightly disjointed at times. Of course I only have a limited amount of time to get my head around things before writing this review, and it’s possible I could change my mind after ten or so more listens.
http://www.myspace.com/melechesh
