Quote:
Originally Posted by CHCl3
Emissaries - Melechesh (2006) |
Having only a very elementary knowledge of/experience with black metal, I was a little curious as to why this was selected for me. Even upon perusing CHCl3's last.fm, I saw no compatibility between us. Regardless, I'm always up for listening to something I haven't heard before. Oddly enough, the first day I listened to this album the band was playing in my city.
The wiki tells me they hail from Jerusalem and describe themselves as "Mesopotamian Metal".
So lets take a listen,
Right from the get-go, these gents dive right in at a blistering pace. What goods any build-up for anyway? This isn't post-rock. Heavy guitars, gritty vocals, a generous amount of kick drum, practically inaudible bass guitar...sounds like metal to me. The next track begins with a little more 'hard-rock' quality, then quickly escalates to some thunderous, steady double-kickery, which I always enjoy. The moments of clean, chant-like singing fit very well yet add a level of contrast to the music. I dig 'em. It was a little reminiscent of the computer game Age of Mythology (loads of fun) which I suppose just adds to the whole fertile crescent theme. I can't comment too much on the raspy troll vocals, they seem to be about the standard for the genre. About midway through the album, you begin to hear a little more middle eastern tinged melodies in the guitar work, something I am a fan of though for "Mesopotamian Metal" I would have expected more area inspired instrumentation sooner.
At this point, deep in musical focus, I drifted off to sleep. That's not to say it was a boring, albeit it was verging on repetitive, lack of sleep and sickness just got the best of me.
To be continued...