Emissaries - Melechesh

Melechesh describe their sound as "Mesopotamian black thrashing metal", and whist this might sound wonderfully daft, it's also pretty accurate. The band hail from Isreal, (although pressure from the religious authorities there has forced them to relocate to the Netherlands), and their sound is an intoxicating mix of middle eastern folk, raw, fast black metal and old-school thrash. The songs on 'Emissaries' are incredibly dynamic and brimming over with energy, and the band frequently employ powerful, bouncy grooves throughout. This is particularly apparent on 'Ladders to Sumeria', which fits some brilliant melodic black metal riffing around a hugely ...  Read the complete review

Emissiaries is Melechesh's 4th album and was released in October 2006 on the Osmosis label having recorded it in Germany . The Israeli born band have strengthened their sound over the years and this album is really pretty eclectic. The currently Amsterdam based outfit play Messopotamian folk music which is completely acoustic and instrumental at times and on tracks like "The Scribes of Kur" this really shows their ability to play traditional instruments well whilst other tracks are perhaps slightly less technical but fuse a mixture of Arabic groove with black metal and extremely catchy thrash metal riffs which creates a pretty good melody. ...  Read the complete review