Israel isn't exactly known as a metal hot bed, but that's changing mighty quickly. Two years ago, "Mabool" by ORPHANED LAND made jaws drop worldwide with its finely crafted, proggy, Middle Eastern take on death metal. Well, jaws are about to drop again, because Sumerian thrashing black metallers MELECHESH are out to prove with "Emissaries" that Israeli metal has enough diversity and high quality to stand up to any other metal from anywhere else in the world.

Now the description "Sumerian thrashing black metal" is theirs and not mine, but it's still a pretty damn accurate description of these guys. Musically, HOLLENTHON is a pretty good reference point to start from (minus of course the horror movie sampling) because anyone who's heard "With Vilest of Worms to Dwell" will be right at home with the riff and vocal style-only here it's far more authentic. From the second "Rebirth of the Nemesis" starts, the listener knows he's in for something special with the blast beats alternating flawlessly with the bouncing rhythms, Middle Eastern chord progressions and creepy chanting. The next tracks "Ladders to Sumeria" and "Deluge of Delusional Dreams" are more mid-paced but no less interesting, with the snake-like riffs wrapping themselves around the listener's neck. From there it never lets up, from the blistering "Touching the Spheres of Sephiroth" (which I'm pretty sure doesn't mean "Fondling the Testicles of the Boss from 'Final Fantasy VII'"), to the lengthy but never boring or inappropriate traditional interlude "The Scribes of Kur", to the catchy instrumental outro "Extemporized Opthalmic Release". Lyrically, these guys put painstaking effort in putting together ancient texts, spells and the kitchen sink akin to NILE, only, again, since it's straight from the Middle East it sounds so much more real.

It's been a while since these ears have heard something that so dark yet so vibrant. More than anything, "Emissaries" will leave the listener kicking himself in the ass for not getting wise to this shit sooner. After all, these guys have been around for 15 years, and it's high time that the rest of the world took notice.

- Cardona

OFFICIAL SITE: http://www.melechesh.com/

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