Initial Impressions: Melechesh: The Epigenesis

I was at a Continuing Legal Education seminar in Omaha yesterday, just six blocks away from Homer's, so you know I had to run over there. It's been several weeks since I bought anything new, and I had a list 18 CDs long that I wanted to find. Well, apparently Homer's is scaling down their selection, I only found one CD there from my list. But man, is it a good one.

Melechesh has been one of my favorite bands ever since I discovered Emissaries a few years ago. This is also the band's first album since that one released. Melechesh's sound, a blend of thrash and black metal, with Middle Eastern rhythms and melodies, is truly original and sounds amazing. Their vocalist Ashmedi is very strong and their songwriting skills are top notch. These strengths are evident in full force once more on this album.

This album sounds a little bit more polished than prior releases. Perhaps this is due to the band's increasing visibility on the international metal scene. It's also a little less chaotic than past albums. Neither of these two things really detract at all from this album as Melechesh again puts out a fantastic album. I do not like it quite as much as their last album, at least initially, but it could easily grow on me. I have only heard it once so far.