Melechesh "Emissaries" (The End)
By Cameron Higby-Naquin
Thursday. Jan 18, 11:21 AM
Conjuring Mesopotamia.

Metal is the search for a new mythology. Pure scientific atheism is rare and most bands slip a reference to demons or devils somewhere into their lyrics, if only to solidify their position as "evil." This is the predominant strategy. Many death and black bands wishing to avoid such Satanic clichés are content to confine their allusions to the supernatural or the realm of the undead, but others want something a little more creative. I imagine it is a challenge to write adequately evil song lyrics about non-Satanic spirits without straying too far into Blind Guardian territory. Some groups seem to have stumbled onto a solution: ancient mythology.

Emissaries purports to be a collection of "Sumerian spells, Mesopotamian mysticism and its cosmic connection." The stories and religion of the world's oldest civilization are a fertile resource that is, as far as I know, relatively untapped by any other band. Despite what Marduk and Tiamat might have you believe, they're just in it for the cool names; musically, there's nothing Sumerian to be found. Just as Nile have ancient Egypt gripped firmly in linen-wrapped fingers, so Melechesh strive to monopolize the culture of towering Ziggurats, warrior-king Gilgamesh, and a wild, alien-seeming pantheon. I give them excellent credit for pushing the boundaries of metal's mythology. Their presentation, however, could use a little more coherence and polish: Sumerian deities Enlil and Kur sit alongside the Jewish Sephiroth and Jerusalem, Christian Mysterium Magnum, and an inexplicable reference to gyroscopes. All in all, though, I'm pleased to see the band keeping with their main theme.

Musically, the band have a lot going for them as well. The guitars, high and grainy, evoke a blistering sandstorm from the primative past. The drums are as content to blast away as they are to thunder ominously in the background, as in some ritual atop crumbling pyramids. The vocals alternate between a black metal rasp and deep, full-throated chanting. When these elements come together correctly, the listener does feel drawn back into those ancient times, which I think is exactly what the band are looking for. They very intentionally do not go the same route as Nile did. Melechesh's music is almost totally bereft of thigh-bone flutes, breeze-from-open-sarcophagi style sound effects, and bombastic keyboard accompaniments. The atmosphere of Mesopotamia they conjure is subtle but effective when it works. Only one track, "Double Helixed Sceptre," strays from metal into pure atmosphere, but it is a welcome voyage.

The only real issue I have with all of this – mid-paced, blackish death metal with a subtle atmosphere – is that there is not a tremendous amount of variation between the songs themselves. Melechesh have a very small number of nonetheless very effective tricks. The chanting is good, but it sounds the same each time it's employed. The guitars of desert winds are the same desert wind whipping the same grains of sand into your lungs on every track. After one has heard them enough times, the magic does start to erode like a clay cuneiform tablet. I do not wish to say that Emissaries is tedious, just that I wish Melechesh had shown up with a couple more ideas from their obviously fruitful mythology.
www.melechesh.com
www.theendrecords.com

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Cameron Higby-Naquin

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