1. Many greetings to all of you! It´s probably a cliché though, I would like you to introduce yourselves with several words to those readers, who were not fortunate to chance upon your music. How long is history of band then? Were there any critical moments? And especially: what about your production?

To make it quick. Melechesh started in 1993 – 1994 in the cities of Jerusalem / Bethlehem. Ever since the beginning, the idea was clear: make mesopotamian themed black metal by incorporating elements of middle eastern music into black metal... and this quest still goes on today. Back in Jerusalem, we released a 7” in 1995 called “The Siege of Lachish” and later on our first album I 1996 entitled “As Jerusalem Burns…Al’Intisar”. We then relocated to Europe (Holland and France) in 1998-1999, got a new drummer (Proscriptor of Absu), recorded “Djinn” in 2000 (released in 2001 by Osmose), “Sphynx” in 2003 and “Emissaries” in 2006.

2. As I can see, Melechesh were quite busy in the last year, especially due to the release of your album „Emissaries“. How have you been rewarded for your effort? Critics seem to be very satisfied with your output, but what about your fans? Do you take into consideration even opinions of publicists? Where was your album released?

The album has received amazing feedback, from the press and fans alike… I think we have been rewarded for our efforts which is important. Of course we take opinions into consideration, because they are surely going to affect us. But I don’t think we would go as far as taking it into consideration when we are actually writing the music. But you always need another point of view, it can help your progress and push yourself even further. Our album was released in Europe, it just got released right now in the US.

3. I must do homage to you for this last album!Your connection of a brutal technique with melodics of Near East is excellent . How long did the creation itself take you and its recording? If I´m not mistaken, the whole process took place in several different countries? Did you possibly cooperate with any producer?

Thanks for your kind words. The creation process toke around three years, the way it goes is like this: Ashmedi is the main composer, he does the music in Holland, records demos (guitars and programmed drums) with our bassist al’hazred. I used to live in the north of France, Ashmedi and I would meet regularly to jam, exchange riffs, etc. Also since we now had a drummer who lived in Holland, so Ashmedi would work with the drummer. It’s a long process, but it’s possible. We all met 1 month before the album, rehearsed daily, worked together to perfect the songs, and continue writing songs that were still unfinished… it worked!

4. How does actually your collaboration work? You´re not very close to each other, I mean both physically and nationally. Do you think, that this is why your music is so original? (and your music certainly is)

I mean Ashmedi and I are almost like brothers, we lived together in Jerusalem, and we’re both Assyrian. But we’re also very cosmopolitan since we grew in an atmosphere that was so multicultural. Besides we are fluent in many languages and have traveled a lot. This might explain something about our music I suppose. As for being separated geographically, yes it’s not that easy, I right now have left France for the US, but ’m still doing the tour..and beisdes with technology right now things are much easier and closer.

5. The output of your new drummer Xul is definitely unrivalled. How did you get together? It´s known, that there was Proscriptor from Abs in this place previously. What did lead you to the decision of separation?

Xul plays in other bands in Holland which we were in touch with, mainly Thanatos. He first joined in as a session drummer, played some shows with us, the vibe went very well, so we decided that he should be on the album. With proscriptor being in the States it was hard to work on the album, it was impossible for him to come for 2 months to rehearse and record, so we needed a solution.


6. What do you think is the main improvement on „Emissaries“ as compared with previous albums? Many think, that this is the best album of yours.

I don’t know, I think we confirmed to everybody that we have a style of our own. I don’t think in terms of best album, every album is an experience for us, but this one has the advantage of coming at such a time when there is so much behind us musically that you can only expect quality to rise! Let’s hope it keeps on going this way.

7. You band is one of the pioneers in so called „sumerian black metal“ and „Emissaries“ just demostrates it. Where does the inspiration come frome even now, when you live in Europe? It´s a sad reality, that the intolerance of your countrymen made you to move to the Netherlands and France (I hope, that it is not too delicate subject). How did it actually come to this decision? Was the religious pressure too much for you? I think, that moving into some complete different country, the more to the different continent, must be very hard.

I think people exaggerated this idea that we left because of religious pressure… It was not the case. However we did encounter problems with Melechesh, but those were solved when we were there. But it’s also no secret that this country is full of discrimination and obstacles to many things, including to what we were doing musically. But this also applied to other things such as professional life, studies, family etc. So we left, and it only did us good as individuals and as a band. Moving was not that hard, as I told you earlier, we are very cosmopolitan people…but there are things we miss eventually.

8. It is said to be some fragment of 5000 years old text on „Emissaries“. What text should it be in the concrete? What language is it written in?

The text is called “The Seven evil demons”It was written in akkadian I believe, but we got a translation of it done in the beginning of the century by some british assyriologists. It’s a myth about 7 demons that belong to the old generation of gods (the ancient ones) that come back to break down the new order…the battle is symbolized by the eclipse.

9. Jerusalem does not exactly wish well towards metal, in my opinion, was it difficult to look for any records earlier? Do you still remember your first contact with this music?

It was not that bad, you see in Jerusalem you have two parts: the Israeli part and the Palestinian part (which is under occupation), we used to live, work, study in both. The Israeli side had record stores which had metal, and bands would play, it’s very much like Europe (although it’s also very religious, and we did encounter problems due tot hat). The Palestinian side didn’t know what the hell metal was, so we were aliens… he he he he …but we come from a Christian background, and what we were doing was not well viewed. But all this made things so special for us, playing black metal I Jerusalem, it had a real drive to it and a very spiritual thing, can’t describe it really…

10. What about your plans for the year 2007? I read, that you are about to have europian tour, where will you have your stopovers?

We will be part of the Excess of Evil tour with Marduk, Enslaved, Keep of Kalessin, Goatwhore and Pantheon I in may. You can find the dates on many websites… but we will be passing by the Czech Republic!


11. You have been already playing for long 13 years. Could you mention any moments worth remembering from the history of your band?

Hummmmm… I think our first show in Jerusalem is an event I will always remember, then other gigs which were great fun…a lot of good moments indeed!

12. Could you tell something more about the recent upleasant matter, which happened to you in Israel? I think, you were blamed for some „dark activities“.

Recent? No that was back in 1995. There was a whole fuss about satanic activities (you know the typical story), and an important local newspaper asked us to do an interview (front page article!), they manipulated the story, turned us into a satanic cult, this aroused problems with the police and such.

13. The more mesopotamian myths we know, the more we can speculate about the originality of the Bible. What is your attitude towards this problem? Do you think, that Sumerians have already answered everything and that their really old, yet not very well-known religious system has anythig to offer even nowadays?

It’s not much of a problem, I mean history evolves this way, it would be very ignorant to think that the bible just popped up with ready made answers to everything. I do think however that these old polytheistic religions do have something to offer…not as a practice, but as a philosophy, a way to frame basic metaphysical and existential questions. But for us it is mainly a source of inspiration which leaves a lot of room for interpretation and creation.

14. Thanks for the interview a lot, may the Babylonian Gods keep ward over your steps! If you have some message to tell, the last words are yours. See you in the Czech republic!

Thanks for the interview, and hope to see you soon on tour. IA TIAMAT