MELECHESH

MELECHESH Leader Ashmedi: "Heaviness Is Not Necessarily Speed"


Great Falls Tribune has issued the following report from Pat Douglas:

In the United States it may seem a bit odd to hear about a band sought by the authorities based on a rumor about their religious beliefs.

For the Amsterdam-based black metal band MELECHESH (pronounced Mel-uh-kesh) that was a reality when they were in Jerusalem a decade ago.

What started as an erroneous newspaper report about the band's affection toward Satan turned into a manhunt for band members, specifically it's leader Ashmedi.

Today, Melechesh is celebrating the release of Emissaries, a brutal and intelligent album featuring the unique Mediterranean sound often associated with the band.

"Some bands, I think, are mistaking heavy with speed and noise maybe," Ashmedi said in a recent interview with the Tribune from his home in Amsterdam. "No disrespect. I am a fan of extreme metal. But, there's another way of being heavy, which is playing with dynamics. Heaviness is not necessarily speed."

On this, the band's fourth studio release, Ashmedi incorporated ancient text into his lyrics and songwriting, adding another dimension to the music.

"There's the ancient text in the literary story called 'Seven Evil Spirits'," he explained. "It related a lot to a song I wrote. It had the same concepts as 'Deluge of Delusional Dreams.' It's a 5,000-year-old text, but I put my own twist to it. It's a very fascinating story and so elaborate."

In the song 'Letters to Sumeria', Ashmedi, who is of Assyrian and Armenian decent, enlisted the aid of a linguist to incorporate Sumerian text into the song.

"That was done with the help of a linguist who's a fan of the band and a study in Akkadian and Sumerian (languages). The last few lines are sung in Sumerian," he explained.

Ashmedi is the primary songwriter for the band, constructing everything from the guitar riffs to the drum parts, a process which takes some time.

"It starts out with visions ... because most guitar riffs are driven out of pictures in my head and I kind of describe them in music sonically," he said. "(I lay) down drums in my head while playing the guitar. Then I make demos for that and I realize the drums there and give them to the drummer and he executes them ... in the rehearsal room."

Lyrics are the most challenging aspect to songwriting, Ashmedi said.

"It's challenging because you want to do the best," he said. "It's quite an effort, but it's also stressful. Sometimes you're obsessive about it, but in the end, it's very gratifying. It has to hit certain nerves in my body. When it hits those nerves, it's Melechesh."

Ten years ago, Melechesh was based in Jerusalem, having just released "As Jerusalem Burns ... Al Intisar," when the report of the band's ties to Satanism was printed. That's when things got a little frightening for Ashmedi and his band mates.

"We were the first black metal band in Jerusalem and then a newspaper lied and said we were a Satanic cult, then problems started," said Ashmedi, who describes himself as coming from a nonreligious Christian background.

"In East Jerusalem, the more Palestinian area, we were cast-outs. We were literally cast out. I was a notorious person in East Jerusalem because of the Satanic stuff and the music and all of the rumors. (The problems) ended ... because we dealt with them."

Sticking it out in the Isreali-led West Jerusalem, Ashmedi spun the bad press into a positive and inspirational motivation.

"It was uncomfortable. It was unpleasant," he said of being wanted by authorities. "It just makes you more determined. In a way, for black metal, we practiced what we preached. We did black metal in the most holy city, I suppose that's something."

"Our first rehearsal was five minutes from the Holy Sepulchre Church where Jesus was crucified. That was kind of inspiring for it's own sake," Ashmedi said.

According to Ashmedi, the metal scene in Jerusalem has always been quite strong.

"There's always been metal living there," he said. "I grew up listening to metal there. It wasn't available that much. There's always been a few local shows (and) one or two metal shops. Now, there's a metal bar every day playing loud metal and serving beers. Jerusalem's very nice to hang out. Night life in Amsterdam, for me, is more boring. People don't understand that, but that's how it is."

In 1998, Ashmedi decided to pack up the band and move to Amsterdam, where he has since earned Dutch citizenship and recorded three more albums.

Melechesh is known for revolutionizing the use of Mediterranean music in metal, something that has helped System of a Down achieve success in the U.S. Although the two bands are very different, they share a similar core structure in drum patterns.

"I think they're very good," Ashmedi said of SOAD. "I'm very proud of what they did. We started before them, doing the Mediterranean drum patterns in '93 and just to see someone doing it on a commercial level, of course with a different kind of music, and seeing it work ... only just confirms that it is possible. These drum patterns and rhythms, if you put them in a heavy setting, they work very well 'cause they invoke the same feelings as Mediterranean music."