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"Mesopotamian metal". That's how Melechesh describe themselves. With origins in the Middle East, already this band stands apart from the usual hotbeds of extreme metal - here with notable Black Metal influences. Ok they don't live in the Middle East anymore but you get the idea. Play the CD and the difference is audible - the band incorporates some middle eastern sounds in their brand of metal that definitely give it a different, if not unique sound (I guess that's until some clones start appearing...) While some would probably qualify this sound as a "gimmick", I think it actually enhances the music and brings a breath of much needed fresh air in the genre. While it is pretty hard to compare Melechesh's music to other bands, I think that black/thrash with middle eastern sounds thrown in is pretty accurate. The riffing at times is way more thrash than Black, but the middle eastern sounds are almost always there in the shadow, and at times get more to the forward sound - some of those passages are great, quite powerful and played very fast.

The vocals are in the Black/thrash vein with some occasional clean vocals (not much). Overall a very clean, yet brutal sound. Don't expect any ballads here! ;) This is one extreme metal album that I probably won't get tired of listening to for a while, unlike so many other releases that sound pretty much all the same. It is not only the middle eastern sounds that make this good - the songs are very good, the musicianship is great, pretty much everything is there for a great listening experience.

Only one major complaint about this album really: The last song has a few minutes of silence at the end. Why. Why why why do bands keep doing this. It's annoying and serves no purpose. Argh! Anyway, beside that, I highly recommend this album, for sure one of 2001's best. And unlike some other recent Osmose titles, this CD is playable in a computer's CD-ROM drive. That's nice.