Melechesh Sphynx
Osmose Productions G108A3 05/05/03
By Paddy Walsh
In these days where almost everything conceivable in the realm of metal has already been done to death, there seems to be a glut of bands on the rise intent on attaching some kind of gimmick to their music. Often this will take the form of groups proclaiming they are influenced by a certain type of non-metal music, or set of scales. Unfortunately, a lot of the time one is left disappointed by what has again proven hyperbole. In these cases, what had promised to be something unique is in fact nothing of the sort, but merely the same old same old done-to-death style, with their gimmick tacked on as something of an afterthought.
Thankfully, this is one accusation that simply cannot be thrown at Melechesh, who, with Sphynx, have created a powerful, epic blackened thrash album. The difference (or gimmick should I say) in this case is their love of all things to do with the Middle East, and in particular the civilisation of ancient Mesopotamia. Thus we have the first self-proclaimed Mesopotamian Metal band, a term that sounds pretentious, but is actually applicable when it comes to Melechesh. They take their chosen subject matter very seriously, putting much research into the lyrics, and basing all of their compositions (and even some drum patterns) on Middle Eastern scales and rhythms. The extent to which Melechesh indulge in this far outstrips the likes of Nile, who are perhaps thematically most similar. While the latter will follow a typical death metal route for the most part, injecting an occasional Egyptian sounding solo or whatnot, virtually every riff and lyric in Sphynx is relevant to the subject matter. Thus, while a band like Nile could be said to be a metal band with Egyptian influences, Melechesh could easily be described as a Middle Eastern band playing metal.
It works surprisingly well too; despite the obvious limitations of choosing to almost exclusively base your sound on one set of scales, each song on Sphynx sounds completely different from the last. Stylistically, Melechesh have a blackened thrash kind of sound, somewhat reminiscent of Texan band Absu. This is unsurprising as Proscriptor (Absu) plays drums for Melechesh as well, and he puts in a sterling performance, stylistically extremely tight and precise, which suits the bands sound perfectly. The vocals of Ashmedi are rasped in a familiar black/thrash fashion, and threatened to bring down the visceral impact of this release for me, yet multiple spins proved his voice to be quite adept, and again well suited to the music they play. He puts enough passion into the themes to come across as sincere. Sphynx is definitely one of the metal highlights of 2003, and deserves a look in from anyone, whether fans of theme-based bands like Nile, or those who like their black and thrash metal.
8.5/10
Official Melechesh Website
Osmose Productions Website
Osmose Productions G108A3 05/05/03
By Paddy Walsh
In these days where almost everything conceivable in the realm of metal has already been done to death, there seems to be a glut of bands on the rise intent on attaching some kind of gimmick to their music. Often this will take the form of groups proclaiming they are influenced by a certain type of non-metal music, or set of scales. Unfortunately, a lot of the time one is left disappointed by what has again proven hyperbole. In these cases, what had promised to be something unique is in fact nothing of the sort, but merely the same old same old done-to-death style, with their gimmick tacked on as something of an afterthought.
Thankfully, this is one accusation that simply cannot be thrown at Melechesh, who, with Sphynx, have created a powerful, epic blackened thrash album. The difference (or gimmick should I say) in this case is their love of all things to do with the Middle East, and in particular the civilisation of ancient Mesopotamia. Thus we have the first self-proclaimed Mesopotamian Metal band, a term that sounds pretentious, but is actually applicable when it comes to Melechesh. They take their chosen subject matter very seriously, putting much research into the lyrics, and basing all of their compositions (and even some drum patterns) on Middle Eastern scales and rhythms. The extent to which Melechesh indulge in this far outstrips the likes of Nile, who are perhaps thematically most similar. While the latter will follow a typical death metal route for the most part, injecting an occasional Egyptian sounding solo or whatnot, virtually every riff and lyric in Sphynx is relevant to the subject matter. Thus, while a band like Nile could be said to be a metal band with Egyptian influences, Melechesh could easily be described as a Middle Eastern band playing metal.
It works surprisingly well too; despite the obvious limitations of choosing to almost exclusively base your sound on one set of scales, each song on Sphynx sounds completely different from the last. Stylistically, Melechesh have a blackened thrash kind of sound, somewhat reminiscent of Texan band Absu. This is unsurprising as Proscriptor (Absu) plays drums for Melechesh as well, and he puts in a sterling performance, stylistically extremely tight and precise, which suits the bands sound perfectly. The vocals of Ashmedi are rasped in a familiar black/thrash fashion, and threatened to bring down the visceral impact of this release for me, yet multiple spins proved his voice to be quite adept, and again well suited to the music they play. He puts enough passion into the themes to come across as sincere. Sphynx is definitely one of the metal highlights of 2003, and deserves a look in from anyone, whether fans of theme-based bands like Nile, or those who like their black and thrash metal.
8.5/10
Official Melechesh Website
Osmose Productions Website
