Moloch: The band’s bio is probably well known by people who listen to Melechesh but somehow still misunderstood. I guess when, as a black metal band, you come from Jerusalem and Bethlehem – which is where I used to live – there will always be rumors and misunderstanding. For example with regards to the members being Israeli, which as we have repeated numerous times, we are not; I am Palestinian/Assyrian, Ashmedi is Assyrian / Armenian and we had all sorts of nationalities in Melechesh: Ukrainian, American, Dutch and so on. Another misunderstanding is whether we were “persecuted” when we were in Jerusalem. Of course, we had some problems (but isn’t this why someone plays black metal!) but we did not flee the country because of these problems. Moreover, these cannot count as problems when you see what is happening to metal bands in countries like Iran or Egypt. Actually the discrimination we experienced as a non-Israeli in Israel is much worst than something we experienced as a black metal band. So we left for many reasons (personal, professional, family, education, etc.) and pursued Melechesh in Europe (with a base in Holland). The rest is history (or a bio that you find anywhere online!).
BWOA: One thing I think is very ironic about MELECHESH is how all these past things with the band originally being from Jerusalem and all the "controversy" the band endured over that aspect through the years, that somehow seemingly important concern that people get in their heads that Black Metal bands can't be from a place like Jerusalem and taken seriously now seems to be a reverse critic for the band as MELECHESH has since grown so much in popularity since those times long ago. The band severed that connection long time ago after the release of the first album originally released by Andy's (Akhenaten of JUDAS ISCARIOT) old label Breath of Night Records were the band moved and resided for some years in Holland before various members would relocate again later. I think if any band, MELECHESH has far and beyond proved that nationality is not the root of concern when it comes to playing Black Metal!
Moloch: That’s well said. But at the same time I do think if we were from Scandinavia our first album would have had more following. This is just the nature of things and many non Scandinavian bands from that generation (circa mid nineties) had to go through the same thing. And I actually am very appreciative of Andy’s effort to put out Melechesh on his label. Apparently he faced lots of problems by releasing it, be it from the BM scene that could not accept a band from Jerusalem (very ironic for a music that claims to be anti-religious) or the cops (a story I heard, not sure if it’s true). But he was brave and went all the way. Towards the end however we lost contact and he never re-issued it. To answer your question on origins, I do believe that nationality in the sense of history, influence and culture matters because it can contribute in interesting ways in shaping one’s music: so that there is a greek style of black metal, a south American style of death metal and so on but that’s it. When metallers become ring wing conservative idiots then you loose a lot of what metal is supposed to be – i.e its subversive nature. I’m glad that people are more and more open to metal coming from the Middle East and other regions. These bands need support and I hope that they will find their own voice and be able to bring their own contribution to extreme metal.
BWOA: I would have to say I do rather agree with you, the point that at that time the black metal marketing world, a Scandinavian band probably would have (I mean Absolutely would have) gotten much more attention, due to their region or whatever fascinating addition a label could put out on the cd sticker to help it sell and get more attention (i.e. featuring members of ______(implant 10x known Scandinavian bands)______ and mastered/recorded at Abyss Studio's by Peter T.) seemed to appear on all Scandinavian releases. When I think about this in a manner of marketing in concern towards MELECHESH the fact the band was resided in Jerusalem at the time was the marketing for the debut full length if I remember correctly the problem with that was at the time, even though more bands then just MELECHESH existed in that region, that region had no pin on the black metal map sort of speak - marking an existing scene there, wheather ignored or just not very propagated through media outlets. But I'm looking at MELECHESH in the way that is actually a milestone for the band, to have a credit to your name that is just as reflective to the name of Mayhem for placing Norwegian Black Metal originally on the map and to have lasted the tests and trials of time and still producing great music... that's respectable! As for other Middle Eastern bands, what bands would you personally recommend people check out?
Moloch: It was hard because the middle east wasn't exactly the region that was producing any extreme metal. I still remember getting fanzine interviews asking us if we rehearsed in tents and used camels to move our gear! Israel however had a metal scene with established bands, but given the fact that we came from East Jerusalem and the occupied territories and that we were not Israeli made us also separate from the Israeli metal scene. I mean we were more in touch with the international underground metal scene than we were part of a "local" scene. And we did insist on this fact for "marketing" and we still do even though we left Jerusalem. It has to do with what you said: we came from the most unexpected place to play black metal and we withstood the trial of time, that's why Jerusalem ends up playing such a symbolic aspect in our music, something that we are very proud of but also something that symbolizes many things we do not stand for. In way we symbolically destroyed Jerusalem to created a sphere where we would redefine what this city could mean. This cycle of destruction and creation still goes on, making the city a leitmotiv to our conceptual and musical voyage.
Luckily the Middle East has been catching up and some good bands are coming up. I'm not really keeping up with all the developments but a few names that come to mind are Nervecell (U.A.E), Bilocate (Jordan) and Kaoteon (Lebanon)
BWOA: Staying on the topic of the first album, "As Jerusalem Burn...Al'Intisar" was an album that I don't think too many people ever got their hands on, especially in concern towards to the newer fans and followers of the band and newer generation of BM listeners. It was originally released on BoN as stated before and it was also Andy's first release on the label. Being first a demo and then some added tracks to make a full length, demo being simply "As Jerusalem Burns" and then adding the "...Al'Intisar" for the full length debut. I remember clearly like it was yesterday all this stuff, the concern of the bands origins, the fact that the album was released by one of BM's most out spoken figures in those days and how that placed the band on the so called BM map but the music on that album holds to be just as much as a gem as any newer MELECHESH album would hold, just at different time period of the band of course. How do you see MELECHESH and the music the band creates today in comparison to the first album and how the sound and style of the band has since shaped into what one can call today the bands signature sound?
Moloch: I actually really like our first album, maybe because it brings back a time that somehow remains magickal to us. There was a real mystic at the time, black metal was exciting, new things were coming out, it just felt more sincere that it does now. This does not mean more “true” some bullshit like that but it just felt that the style was developing its potential. You know it might sound cliché, but it just feels like a journey and with every new step you take you see things differently. We were discussing it with Ashmedi some months ago, and it felt that that first album was becoming more and more significant with time. The sound has changed a lot but when you are the one playing it and recording it the evolution seems more natural than to a listener who suddenly discovers the band’s discography
BWOA: I'm constantly drawn back to the first album, what can I say?... the first album you hear from a band are generally the most common refered to albums for each person. Listening to songs like "Assyrian Spirit" brings to mind newer hymns of the band such as "Genies Sorcerers And Mesopotamian Nights" , i see simularities in these songs, in sound, it seems the original sound and aurora of the bands music has never left the band in any way, those inspirations and intentions are still present in the band and the overall attractions to those sounds are still dominately present in the music the band creates today.
Moloch: You are exactly right. When you have an idea in mind it takes time to grow, not only to the listener but also for the musician so that “Assyrian Spirit” was planting the seed for “Genies, Sorcerers and Mesopotamian Nights” and so on. I don’t think we ever compromised on having a dark, mystical sound and use all these Middle Eastern influences in a way to bring out these atmospheres. And with every recording we use riffs that were written in our Jerusalem days: the intro to “Deluge of Delusional Dreams” on Emissaries to tracks like “Defeating the Giants” on our latest album.
BWOA: Move back a moment, you mentioned that back in the days of the first album, black metal was exciting, and I have say that for me this is certainly a truth in many ways, BM seemed to be more sincere in some aspects then many of today's new releases by many bands, rather then becoming a cliche to the storm of 2 decades past of the genre, it seems there are not too many bands out there today breaking away from traditional sounds in the music to create their own brand of music such as MELECHESH is widely known for by todays age. I remember 10 years back when some of the Scandinavian bands were changing their styles/sounds, becoming more experimental or simply going into a totally non-black metal style as they could, for what ever reason, but i think you hit the nail on the head with the sincerity aspect because no matter how a bands trys to define themselves as different you can still feel the sincerity level in the music I think. How does MELECHESH expend in your music album to album and develop those potentials while keeping the sincerity aspect from drifting? If you understand what I mean... how does the band keep focus on it's intentions?
Moloch: Anything that does not renew itself is bound to decay. By renewal I don't necessarily mean going experimental, but simply having character, being able to say something that is yours, have your contribution instead of relying on others. It just gets to easy if you can dig into your record collection, study the song structures of certain bands, their riffs and their lyrics and simply copy them to record your own album. And it gets dangerous because at the end people stop caring. All that I can remember is that in the mid nineties,I was still excited to hear new black metal bands of course many of them were not interesting but people were still excited. For me most of this excitement is gone. As for Melechesh staying focused, well it does help when you come up with an idea that can yield many different things, because there will always be some scale coming from indian or arabic music that can help you write a good riff, a beat that sounds great on drums and other things that inspire us from traditional music. Then there are elements within hard/rock and metal music that have been ignored and can be reused in an interesting way. And conceptually there are a lot of things from the Middle East that are inspiring. But mostly I think, it's just an attitude of wanting to go further.
BWOA: I remember when the band signed to Osmose Productions some albums ago, it was a huge move for MELECHESH, it not only placed the band into a new dimension and era within your song writting but it also gave the band the promotion needed to be able to create and have your music heard on a larger scale, obviously Osmose has been a label for Black Metal since it's inception and generally release bands that become rather well known in their metal genres. Having Prosciptor of the infamous ABSU on hammers during the time with Osmose up til "Emissaries" album where Xul then came in was most definately a plus for the band, as to me MELECHESH has since taken on a ABSU vibe in your music, it's mysterious, it's furious, it's epic... I think that sums up MELECHESH, it's music that is sometimes odd but keeps the listeners attention throughout the album rather than a good song here a good song there and skip forward through the CD til you get to that one, it's not like that for me anyways, I'm basicly compeled to listen to the entirty of your albums then skip to this track or that track, all the albums, so I'm expecting the same with the new album.
Moloch: Moving to Europe, signing to Osmose and welcoming Proscriptor into the band were all good moves for the band. And with “Djinn” we did take a new direction, but this is what we are all about: exploring the potential of an idea, pushing the limits of what we are able to do. Variety (within a certain style of course) is essential and when we write an album we have to be sure that every song brings something different to the album. This is why we don’t release an album every two years and why we are control freaks when it comes to quality control. We owe it to ourselves but also to the listener.
BWOA: So the act of writing the music for MELECHESH is more a psychological inception then anything until the band feels ready to create an album around those ideas?
Moloch: Maybe, it's mostly about quality control. Ashmedi does the big bulk of the work, so much depends on him, and I co-write some tracks with him. In the writing process there is a lot of stuff we end up throwing out. This time we decided to just keep on writing and then choosing the songs we want to record at the end. I actually think we wrote written two albums during these four years but we decided to select what we felt defined us best at this moment in time.
BWOA: MELECHESH are commonly reffered to as Sumerian Black Thrash Metal, in extention to the previous question, that is a new label for the band, in terms that the word Thrash being in there never really was before untill more recent years, the band never played any thrash style in their music til a few years back, and still I don't see it any thrash style myself even with the thrash like riffs that you hear in the music... to me it's still sounds as Black Metal just in a very unique and almost mysterious way. Thing is that Sumerian can refer to anything within that culture, from language to script, from history to architecture, but I think MELECHESH has always dawned on the mythology aspect of the word, such as the other common label for the band as Mesopotamian Black Metal - Mesopotamian coming from the Greek word Μεσοποταμία which means "[land] between the rivers"... it's actually interesting that the word means this because if you listen to the music of the band and you take into account the bands labels of Sumerian and/or Mesopotamian Black Metal, the topics the band expresses upon, I think to say between two rivers is an excellent reference towards the music, cause it's exactly that way, it's not landed on anything specific within the cultures that inspire the band but rather it's between those elements and others that exist within the lives of the members involved...would that be a reasonable depiction?
Moloch: Labels are what they are: words. They do not and should not constrain the possibilities of our writing. As for adding “thrash” to this label, I do think we took a thrashier direction with “Sphynx”. This was a deliberate direction that Ashmedi took and I do think it helped tighten the band and make it more aggressive, but we always had some black thrash elements and they are very important. But you are right when you say ‘it remains black metal’ for us what really matters about black metal is the dark, evil, epic, mystical and pagan atmospheres. This is something we will always keep but we will not be limited by what people see as black metal. And we are known to incorporate all sorts of influences: the middle eastern stuff of course which defines the band's style but also hard/progressive rock, heavy metal, thrash and so on.
BWOA: "Emissaries" album was the bands last and final album for Osmose Productions, the band is now currently signed with Nuclear Blast and the new album "The Epigenesis" is the bands first work under the new label, releasing in North America on October 26th. I know I have read before that Ashmedi stated the change was not about money in particular, as the band was offered far more by Osmose to stay, but the decision was based more on a distribution aspect for the band, having your albums more widely available. Now I've been involved in this music for a long time and just as any who has been over the years your outlooks and practices change. I going to assume that the change from Osmose to Nuclear Blast may not be a money aspect nor just distribution aspect but I'm going to say it also concerns a touring aspect for the band, the ability to tour on a wider scale, a signing to a major label like Nuclear Blast generally means for larger bands a nice tour package is included...is this the case with MELECHESH? Expanding the name of MELECHESH is not likely at this point without that, the band has been around long enough and had enough exposure to secure the bands popularity in this music through the years, the only thing that can place the band into higher realm of popularity is touring i think? Not to say popularity is the bands goal, of course it is not, but it's also every bands intention to have their music heard and spread as far as possible obviously.
Moloch: We had a great partnership with Osmose but you must also understand that as a band you don’t simply write and record albums every other day. We explored all that we could explore with Osmose, we gained a lot but some things also hurt the band. This is not a personal issue as we are still very good friends with Herve and co but rather a structural issue. So like every relationship it was time to move on, see what happens if we work with somebody else. NB is a huge label and they can offer a lot. We wanted a label that can push Melechesh further and Osmose couldn’t offer that: in terms of promotion, distribution, touring and such. So we decided to try something else, after many offers and much deliberation we went with NB. The biggest risk is not taking a risk, so we will have to see how things evolve. So far our relationship with NB has been great and there is no reason why things should change.
BWOA: I wanted to discuss the vinyl medium for a moment, other than the last two full lengths off Osmose, the band release two 7" EP's, first in 1996 off Devilish Music Propaganda entitled "The Siege of Lachish" which included 2 exclusive songs and the other, the second was the 2004 EP off Profound Lore entitled "The Ziggurat Scrolls" which included remix and demo versions of 4 MELECHESH songs. Will Nuclear Blast be doing vinyl version for the new album as well? Do you, or MELECHESH as a whole, see any importance to having a record deal that includes vinyl medium verses a deal that is only for CD?
Moloch: Very much so, we’re not crazy vinyl collectors, but we remember buying our albums on vinyl and still enjoy listening to vinyl. It just has this cult thing to it, and it looks beautiful to have your cover on a huge LP not to forget that the sound is so much warmer and more organic.
BWOA: This year the band made the travel to USA for the bands first time ever US soil performance at Maryland Death Fest 2010. I was there, front row against the barriar banging my head off to the massive aurora of MELECHESH's music. It was pure success I would say! What are your thought towards the performance of that fest, how the band was received by the people who attended and for future performances of the band in the USA? Surely MDF is the largest metal festival in the US, being a overseas band and having the experience of playing some of the overseas fests behind you that get just as many people and in many cases even larger crowds for the most popular fests overseas how do you and the band view the US in comparison to touring overseas?
Moloch: We came to the U.S after many many many years, after having released our first album here and done lots of promotion. So the name was already out there and it showed when we went on stage. Lots of people showed up and they knew the material. It was a wonderful feeling and an encouragement to come back here and tour which will happen for the coming album. MDF had a very special feel to it, the fact that it’s in the middle of Baltimore (as opposed to some godforsaken village as most European fests) just gave it this extra charm that we have not experienced before. All in all, it was an amazing experience.
BWOA: Okay, enough of older times... "The Epigenesis" ...it's interesting to me to have read the studio report on the recording of the new album recently with Ashmedi, why the album was being recorded in Istanbul, Turkey at Babajim Studio for the purpose of to incorporate Istanbul’s atmospheres into the music of the new album. How has the new album material expanded in comparison to the older materials of the band? What indulgences of Istanbul has portrayed in the atmospheres of the music on the new album and was that prime focus of the atmospheric aurora it holds? What is it about Istanbul that inspires you, Ashmedi and the rest of the band?
Moloch: Istanbul is an amazing place! You have to go there to understand. For us it’s ideal: you can find all the metal you want and all the middle eastern stuff you want, it has the best of the middle east that we know by growing up in Jerusalem and the best from Europe. It was an ideal place to be and Babajim studio was an amazing environment to work in. When you are spending a couple of months in a place you need this place to be inspiring and Istanbul definitively provided that. More importantly we wanted to make a statement: why go to Sweden or Germany to record a metal album when you can go to Istanbul and get more in terms of production, energy and inspiration. It also allowed us to work with Turkish musicians and develop a network there. So to the question why go to Istanbul, I would answer with anther question: why not?
BWOA: Good question...Fair enough! Well have had reading/listening to the studio report not long ago, it's sounds as though the new album is very dynamic, not to say older albums were not of course, but the production seemed to sound as the best the band has accomplished so far. When the band recorded this new album was there things you did in the process that was new for the band from past recordings, a different angle perhaps? I find that speaking with a lot of bands on recording of their previous works, they typically find things they want to expand upon or try different in the process of recording their next album
Moloch: The sound is massive, very organic but still very heavy. We have the same recording habits as he had since Sphynx, there are certain ways of working that we are comfortable with so we stick to them. But we just got better at it, and there is a very professional atmosphere going on in the studio. And like our previous album we always leave some room for improvisation which allows for some creativity. You need that since recording can be a very mechanical enterprise. But recording in Istanbul made things different, in a way it was more hectic: you weren't isolated in some village in sweden or germany. So we had many people coming by (journalists, etc.) Also we had more guest musicians, like musicians that played traditional middle eastern instruments, so it was great to work with extremely professional people of a whole different genre. And this time we didn't work with metal sound engineer. Instead we worked with an extremely good and professional engineer, Reuben de lautour, which was interesting and it helped us get this real organic sound that we were looking for. But when we needed some assistance in getting the metal production it was there (the bass player of the turkish heavy metal band Pentagram helped us with the guitar sound for example). So really, anything that we wanted, we got it in Istanbul!
BWOA: I wanted to talk a moment on the subject of videos, cause I remember reading something a while back with I think Ashmedi about the videos having visual interpretation of the music. I would imagine that to have transformed into visual is rather difficult, looking to video's older like "Hymn to Gibil" which was more a live shot video to newer vids the band has done like "Genies Sorcerers And Mesopotamian Nights" where there was not much going on in the video aside from a lot of multiple camera angles etc... I will assume that for the band, doing a video has not totally worked out in the terms of visual interpretation of the music?
Moloch: Not really and this is simply a budget issue. We now have a budge to record a video clip so I'm hoping that we will be able to finally do what we've been looking for.
BWOA: The other day I seen the new artwork for the new album created by John Coulthart who has worked with the band in the past on other albums. I see MELECHESH using a lot of Middle Eastern visuals in your album covers, from Egyptian to Persian etc... Ashmedi stated that "It portrays an occult, mystical Near Eastern/ Mesopotamian atmosphere while strictly adhering to a non-cliché standard." I think the new album art is very mysterious, as many visuals of the like often are, something MELECHESH has always had on your album back to the debut full length.
Moloch: There is definitively a lot of symbolism going on. Coulthart is an amazing artist and he really understands what we are looking for, and like the Emissaries cover, this has many themes of the album going on in one illustration: be it spiritual enlightenment, the relationship between cosmological Creation and human creation, the concept of sacred geometry, and so on. Then of course all of it is all the Mesopotamian and Near Eastern stuff going on. We can spend a lot of time discussing it but I think that once you hear the music and read the lyrics it will all come together
BWOA: Moving to another topic for the moment, you yourself now reside in the USA correct? I heard (can't remember where) that the band has intention to fully relocate to the US eventually..is this fact? How do you like living in the US as I know you have lived many places over the past 10 years or so?
Moloch: No I'm the only one living in the U.S and the rest are in Holland. I really like it here, I can't say that I live in the most exciting part of the country (Virginia) but I'm here for a specific purpose: do my Phd, so it serves it purpose well.And it's good that the band has one base over here, because we really want the band to grow bigger in the U.S, to tour and such.
BWOA: Moloch, I think I've about covered everything, thanks again for your time and chat on MELECHESH. I'm awaiting the release of the new album and I hope to be able to witness the band in live assault again in the future!
Moloch: Thanks for the interview. The live assault will happen again, on American soil, I promise.