Author: Rok Klemše
Location: New Age, Roncade, Italy
Interview date: January 28, 2011
Melechesh laid the foundations of their unique black metal, tinged with thrash metal and Mesopotamian mythology, in 1993, when mastermind and driving force Ashmedi started the band as a solo project. Over the following years it grew into a full-blown band, which put out the now-cult demo As Jerusalem Burns… in 1995 and, a year later, the debut studio album As Jerusalem Burns… Al’Intisar. Djinn and Sphynx followed, writing the band into the metal underground in golden letters, and with the next studio album, Emissaries, the band also won some hard-earned attention from a wider audience. Because of big problems in his native Jerusalem, Ashmedi moved the band to a new home in the Netherlands, where they’re still based today. And recently they released the crown jewel of their career, the album The Epigenesis, which is also their first record on a major label – Nuclear Blast. Nothing seems to be standing in the way of Melechesh’s rise right now, and before a show on their tour with Nile, we sat down with Ashmedi to talk about the concept behind this excellent band. He’s a man of steadfastness and determination, and even more so of a thoroughly worked-out concept of what he wants to squeeze out of the band.
RockLine: Hey Ashmedi, how are you?
Ashmedi: You know, I just came back from Venice, it’s really beautiful there. I’ve never been to Italy before. I’ve been everywhere else, but this is my first time in Italy. I don’t know why, it’s one of those weird things.
RockLine: Not even on tour?
Ashmedi: No, we haven’t played a festival here, and we haven’t toured here either. Strange coincidence.
RockLine: Let’s start with your current tour, which you’re doing with Nile. That’s interesting, since both bands have a similar concept. So how’s the tour going?
Ashmedi: Yeah, we share this eastern mythology with Nile. We’re enjoying the tour, the shows have been great so far, and so has the response. We’ve been out for about a week and so far it’s going really well (knocks on the table).
RockLine: On this tour you’re presenting the new record, The Epigenesis, which you wrote and recorded for quite a long time. Almost four years passed since the previous one. Why did it take so long?
Ashmedi: First, quality over quality. And second, in the underground scene it’s customary for bands to put out a record every year or two. But is that a rule? No. Before we make one good record, you can listen to a ton of other good bands in the meantime. That doesn’t mean it’ll always be like this. Because it took so long, I now have a lot more songs, some already fully finished for the next record. In the end, only quality over quantity matters, and the long stretch of time also let me write really varied songs. On top of that, I had to sort out some personal stuff, which took quite a bit of time.
RockLine: You said quality over quantity, but it’s interesting that The Epigenesis is actually both. It’s a really long record, but also an excellent one.
Ashmedi: Yeah, but the length is only down to how much a CD can hold. We could easily have taken out two songs, recorded them later and had a new record the following year. But we said, if people have waited this long for a new album, let it take them half a year to soak up the songs, and then, with so many of them, another year and a half to explore them completely. We didn’t want to offer a half-hour record. The album is long and varied, and if you listen to it on different systems, you can hear different things in the mix.
RockLine: How would you compare The Epigenesis with your earlier releases, especially the previous record, Emissaries? My take is that Emissaries is more direct, more of a black metal record, while The Epigenesis is more experimental, maybe even progressive.
Ashmedi: Yeah, I agree, I just don’t use the word progressive, because I don’t know what it means (laughs). It does have elements of seventies psychedelic rock, and I also used a twelve-string guitar, which I’d never done before. On top of that, I was very liberal when it came to writing the material, I could even say selfish. I asked myself how to write a new record and figured the best thing was to be free, shut up and just write. How do you top a record like Emissaries!? When I recorded Sphynx, I had to top that record, which was impossible, but I managed it with Emissaries, so how do you top that? On top of that, The Epigenesis is also our first record for a major label, and I really had trouble figuring out how to approach the writing. After long hours of thinking, even sleepless nights, I just sat down and wrote. It was easy, free and selfish. I wrote the main riff for the song Defeating the Giants back in 1995, we were still playing it in Jerusalem. But I changed it, and now it fits the song perfectly. Those are the biggest differences: the record is more organic (also in terms of the recording) and more varied, and the way the material was written differs for the two as well. But I love both albums.
RockLine: Me too (laughs). Staying with the new album. The Epigenesis means reaching enlightenment, spiritual growth. Could you say the concept behind the title also refers to the evolution of the band? After all, The Epigenesis is one of your strongest works.
Ashmedi: Thanks. I agree with your take! We used the term on several levels. One of them is my own struggle for enlightenment, to improve myself as a human being. I’m still a piece of shit, we all are, but I’m trying. Another level is definitely a description of the band’s growth, and on top of that our guitarist Moloch is being put to the test too. We found a really fitting word for this time, everything has to have a strong meaning. It’s not a cool word, that’s not what we’re after, it has to mean something, otherwise we can’t respect ourselves. From that standpoint, you nailed its meaning.
RockLine: The recording of this album was very different, and when you recorded the vocals, you did it in a very special way…
Ashmedi: I recorded them naked, yeah. The reason is that the whole process was spiritually very intense. The first thing we decided was that we’d record in Istanbul. I’d first been there in 2009 and absolutely loved it, but at the time there was no suitable studio for us there yet.
RockLine: So you picked the studio, or rather the recording location, purely based on the city itself, its energy?
Ashmedi: Yeah, at first. Then I was talking to a journalist, we became friends, and she told me she knew the elite of studio producers in Istanbul who were building a studio. I went to see it and at that point it was still all bare concrete. I flew in from the Netherlands to talk to the people in charge and decided right away that we’d record there. We did have to wait a few more weeks for them to finish the work. The studio was incredible, the energy was great. When I’m in the studio I always work ten, twelve hours a day, and when it came time to record vocals I had to switch everything off, become a beast, primal. The vocals on the album are primal, and I told the guys in the studio how I wanted to record, even if it sounded weird, occult or psychopathic, but it was none of those things. It was for me, I didn’t want to wear clothes, I wanted to be naked, primal, with nothing but my occult jewelry, a rug, Mesopotamian symbols, a red light, a little whiskey, tea and Coca-Cola. And I didn’t let anyone walk around that floor, it was just me there, all the lights were off, everything was in darkness, and I needed a flashlight to get to the recording room. I recorded from night till dawn and it was a really good process, I think my vocals sound really good, mostly thanks to that primal quality.
RockLine: The singing on this album is also more varied in general, from black metal screams through death metal growls all the way to clean vocals. Was that spontaneous while you were recording, or had you decided it beforehand?
Ashmedi: Actually the record was recorded twice vocally, once with high vocals and once with low ones. Sometimes they go together, sometimes they’re mixed so you don’t notice, and sometimes so that you do. That’s what I wanted to do, but I have to tell you that I created most of the vocal lines right there during the recording. Same goes for the guitar leads, of which I didn’t consciously write a single one, and they’re rock, not metal. The rhythm guitars and drums, though, were 100% prepared in advance. There’s no room for mistakes there, unless we figure there’s still room for improvement. Everything else is based on the feel of the moment. One time we were recording at midnight and stopped because my friends Secret Chiefs were playing in Istanbul, and when we came back we kept recording until three in the morning. Even the reverb was organic, we got it by opening the door to the lobby and catching the natural sound of the hallway.
RockLine: Like you said, the guitars are rooted in black, death and thrash metal and seventies rock, and on The Epigenesis you also used quite a few traditional instruments, which make the whole experience even better.
Ashmedi: Yeah, true, but you have to realize we’re a metal band first and foremost. Period. We’re not experimental, but I can say we invented Middle Eastern blackened thrash, which sounds the way it sounds according to our own vision. We use the traditional instruments for cosmetic reasons and for instrumental parts that metalheads, let’s say, don’t get. But we do, like Sufi music, so very non-commercial music. On top of that, we picked instruments with a dark sound, we don’t want to sound like Disney’s Aladdin with keyboards, too many bands do that (sings and hums a bit that would fit right into Ali Baba or Aladdin, ed.). And I’ve also heard bands singing about “Jerusalem in the heart in the desert.” What the hell!? Jerusalem is a wooded area, the desert lies beyond it, and even that isn’t the real sandy kind. Anyway, we chose non-cliché instruments, Persian, Indian, Arabic. We played some ourselves, and some were played by masters. I played a real sitar for the first time, and everything on the album I played myself, without any editing. I needed a day or two to get used to the instrument and then I just played and played. It came easily because I felt it, and I was really proud of myself.
RockLine: The sitar really is a very complicated instrument.
Ashmedi: It is, its owner even asked me if I was really sure it was my first time playing it. And I really felt the instrument, like I was born for it. I think I’ll be playing the sitar more in the future. The guy actually lent me the sitar for another two months after we’d finished recording.
RockLine: On Emissaries you recorded an interesting cover of The Tea Party’s Gyroscope and made it your own really well.
Ashmedi: Yeah, that’s why I prefer to call it an adaptation rather than a cover. I know The Tea Party, and I told them I wanted to rework the song however I wanted, and they said no problem, go wild.
RockLine: You already said you had a lot of material left over after recording The Epigenesis. Did you record any more adaptations?
Ashmedi: Yeah, I really like the Turkish musician Baris Manco, who sadly has passed away. He was one of the musicians who invented so-called Anatolian rock, that’s the eastern rock of the sixties, when everyone was still a hippie. One of the founders of that genre plays on our album too, and he also played with Baris. They wrote a really beautiful song, which we played in the studio with blast beats, and I changed the main riff. We asked for permission, but they came back with impossible demands and we dropped the whole thing. Maybe next time. But it’s something I’m really interested in.
RockLine: Will you release these ideas, sketches and the like on the next album, or can we expect singles, b-sides or EPs?
Ashmedi: I don’t know. Anything’s possible, but it doesn’t depend all that much on me, the label has a lot of say in it. For me, other things matter right now: a DVD the way I want it, maybe an acoustic record, and of course the new album. But those are my ambitions and wishes, not something that will necessarily happen, though I’m working toward them.
RockLine: I wanted to ask you about the possibility of a DVD too…
Ashmedi: Honestly, I don’t even like DVDs. I don’t like those big live concert DVDs. Of course it’s important that people can watch a DVD if they can’t see the show. But I want to offer something different, something fresh. We’re talking about it right now, but it’s a huge project and I hope it works out.
RockLine: What’s the current situation with the documentary about you and the band? I know you had quite a few problems with it.
Ashmedi: Yeah, I had big problems. The director wasn’t mentally stable, he has a ton of issues. He contacted me himself, we started filming in Jerusalem, I took him home, to my school… We shot everything, and then he told me he’d lost all the footage. He lost the Hellfest footage, the behind-the-scenes stuff was incredible. Okay, it happens, I gave him another chance, but the same story repeated and I told him to just leave me alone. Then somebody else heard about it, we started filming again, and in the meantime he even shot our music video. I don’t know what’s going on with it right now and honestly I’m not even interested. I couldn’t care less about him, I’m the subject of that documentary, not its creator, I’m only interested in the band.
RockLine: If I have the right information, guitarist Moloch has health problems and isn’t part of the tour?
Ashmedi: No, no, his health is perfectly fine, he’ll join us in 10 days. As we joke, Moloch is still a “B” citizen, not an “A” citizen like you and me. I have Dutch citizenship, but Moloch still has a Jordanian one, and both Bulgaria and Serbia rejected his visa application. He didn’t want us to have logistical problems, so he’ll join us later.
RockLine: How did you pick the session guitarist?
Ashmedi: In the Netherlands, where our rehearsal space is, tons of bands play, and we’re good friends with a lot of them. We’ve done this several times already, since Moloch lives in the US, is writing his doctorate and isn’t always available. We found out he’d miss part of the tour a few months ago, when his visa was rejected. We picked a session guitarist right away, he’s a friend of ours, and Moloch taught him all the parts. The guy was ready immediately, I only rehearsed with him twice, but I could see he was extremely well prepared and we hit the road. He’s never been on tour before and he’s really enjoying it.
RockLine: Let’s touch on your lyrics too, where you deal with Mesopotamian mythology and the occult. I think they fit your music perfectly, the primal instinct of Melechesh.
Ashmedi: Yeah, absolutely, it’s about the whole picture. I’m interested in Middle Eastern mysticism, I’m not limited to Mesopotamian mythology, I also study the Kabbalah, for example. Most of the lyrics are based around the cradle of life, which is extremely interesting. But it’s not a recital of mythology, it’s about interpretation, subliminal messages…
RockLine: So in a way you’re creating a Melechesh mythology.
Ashmedi: Yeah, let’s say that. I interpret mythology so that it’s relevant today too. It’s about subliminal messages, pseudoscience, about whether the ancient gods came from other planets and stuff like that. Those are the things that draw me in, that interest me, but it’s not some religious system of mine.
RockLine: Before this tour you also did a short headlining tour on which you played with our own Noctiferia. How was it?
Ashmedi: The tour was full of good people, Noctiferia are great people and excellent musicians, they’ve got great stage presence, great music and a great visual side. I see them as real artists. Say hi to them! (laughs) Svart Crown from France were great too.
RockLine: My last question is what the future holds for Melechesh and how you’ll top The Epigenesis.
Ashmedi: Oh… Fuck you! (laughs) I have no idea. All I’ll say is that we’ll be making music. I don’t know what the future will bring. As long as I feel the need to create, I’ll keep doing it. When the sincerity is gone, I’ll stop. The future from where I stand is recording a DVD, recording an acoustic record and recording a new ass-kicking album. Now that I’ve thought about it, I feel like puking (laughs). Making a new album that will at least match The Epigenesis really scares me (laughs).
Photos: Nina Grad
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