Hard to top "Djinn", their breakthrough disc (almost a decade ago!), as it introduced a heretofore unknown sound to most global ears and as such was heralded (rightly so) as a masterstroke. That shock (and awe) having worn off a bit on the intermittent pair, bringing us to these nine new song (and two instrumentals, both in excess of five minutes).

Winding traditional Middle Eastern rhythms into their brutal, blacken death grind is the Melechesh calling card. If not played on electric guitars through amplifiers, these melodies would mimic countless stereotypical ditties featured in Western film. However, when sped up and pushed through metal gear, the core remains, but empowered with an intensity their forefathers could only dreamed of conveying. The instrumentals, ‘When Halos Of Candles Collide’ and ‘A Greater Chain Of Being’ tend to play those melodies more traditionally, a lone guitar, with chimes as a backdrop. ‘Illumination The Face Of Shamash’ makes masterful use of said rhythms and the galloping, double bass barrage of black metal shrieking ‘Grand Gathas Of Baal Sin’ positively slays! Who said black/death metal is stale?

Check out "The Epigenesis"!