Melechesh

Melechesh
Live at Hole in the Sky, Bergen Metal Fest 2007
Background information
Origin	Jerusalem, (now based in Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Genres	Oriental black metal
Years active	1993–present
Labels	Nuclear Blast, Osmose, The End, Profound Lore Records
Website	www.melechesh.com
Members	Ashmedi Scorpios

Melechesh is an ethnically Assyrian and Armenian black metal band that originated in Jerusalem, and is currently based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Ashmedi started the band as a solo project in 1993. In the following year, guitarist Moloch and drummer Lord Curse were added to the line-up. The band's goal was to create a type of black metal incorporating extensive Middle Eastern influences mainly based on Assyrian (Mesopotamian) and occult themes (both musically and lyrically); the band invented the title "Mesopotamian metal" or "Sumerian Black Thrashing Metal" to best describe their type of metal.

The name Melechesh consists of two words of Hebrew and Aramaic origins: melech (meaning king; מֶלֶךְ, ܡܲܠܟܵܐ) and esh (meaning fire; אֵשׁ); hence, king of fire or fiery king. The portmanteau has been originated by the band.

The digraph ch is pronounced similarly to the Scottish ch, as in the word , or the Greek letter Χ. The Modern Hebrew realization of it is the voiceless uvular fricative (/χ/). See Modern Hebrew phonology and Aramaic phonology. In English, an accepted and common pronunciation is me-lek-ESH (/ˌmɛləkˈɛʃ/).