There’s been a lot of hype surrounding the new album from Melechesh, Enki, and rightly so because it truly is a fantastic listen and it wouldn’t be a surprise if this ends up on many “best of 2015” lists by the time the year rolls to a close.
Opener Tempest Temper Enlil Enraged is one of those songs that seems destined to be rattling round inside your head for days – the guitar riff at the start is absolutely magnificent and comes across as a song that will get everyone’s heads banging along to it in a live environment. An energetic track, to say the least. Meanwhile, Enki Divine Nature Awoken takes another route entirely – the drums are furiously frenetic, yet the rest of the instrumentation and accompanying vocals are rather slow-paced in comparison. It may sound like it shouldn’t work on paper, but it absolutely does.
Indeed, one of the best things about Melechesh is the sheer uniqueness of their sound. It’s definitely black metal, there’s no questioning that, but they have firmly put their own stamp on their material and as such, it’s not just another standard black metal album – Enki stands out from the crowd and makes for an engaging and individual listen from start to finish. If you haven’t heard of Melechesh yet, then what on earth are you waiting for? Get involved right now and make sure you pick up your copy of Enki as soon as it hits the stores.
9/10