In mid 1993, a malicious seed was born under the name MELECHESH, which originally was a solo project of Melechesh Ashmedi. In early 1994, Melechesh Ashmedi (guitars/vocals) joined forces with Moloch (guitars) and Lord Curse (drums), thus evolved this black entity from the Mediterranean/Near East/Middle East lands into a real, established band. This also made them the first band, of such nature, to exist in the Holy Cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
1994 did not spawn any studio recordings, yet there were a couple of unofficial rehearsal tapes released, which were vainly circulated in the underground. It wasn't until 1995 that the debut demo "As Jerusalem Burns...Al' Intisar" was released and quickly dispersed into the International Black Metal Underground Scene and received a very good response.
During that time, a lot had happened in Jerusalem. The main city newspaper titled, Call H'Ayr (meaning "All of the City"), did a front-page article and interview with MELECHESH. The band was described as being the only Satanic cult in Jerusalem, after being referred to the Assyrians and ancient Mesopotamians as ancestors, whose goal was to desecrate the heart of God in where they resided. Such matters weren't taken that serious by the band until the police wanted MELECHESH, under the claim that Satanism is illegal in the Holy City. MELECHESH eventually moved from the Holy City for many personal reasons. One being that they were not citizens of that country and it was this that led to discriminatory actions towards them, which stood in the way of their musical and personal progression. Besides those adversities, in mid 1996, DEVILISH MUSIC PROPAGANDA (Ger.) contacted MELECHESH for a 7" EP. Two months later, a limited edition 7" EP was released called "The Siege of Lachish." (666 copies pressed) The release didn't spread much, for it was only exposed to the extreme cult and fetish sub-markets that D.M.P dealt with at that time. (Queen of Porno, S/M cults, and other extreme organizations) Besides the limited promotion, the 7" EP portrayed MELECHESH as Mesopotamian Black Metal with the title track, using Arabic scales and rhythms. Meanwhile, Breath of Night Records (US) got in contact with MELECHESH after hearing the original demo that they received through tape trading. B.O.N Records appreciated the demo for its rude sound and underground feel and thereafter wanted to re-release the same demo on CD. After debating the offer, MELECHESH re-record the material and went in the studio to work on what was to be their first album "As Jerusalem Burns...Al'Intisar", co-released with Pulverizer Records (US). MELECHESH added Al' Hazred on bass guitar and played some underground festivals around the country, but namely the first black metal gig ever held in Jerusalem. MELECHESH gained a deserving "live performance" reputation.
1998, two years after the release of the first album, MELECHESH compiled all their new material and recorded a promotional CD, containing 5 new songs (including a new version of "The Siege of Lachish") in search of a second album deal.
Bass player Al' Hazred relocated to the Netherlands sometime after the release of "As Jerusalem Burns...." A month after the recording of the promo CD, Melechesh Ashmedi (guitar/Vocalss) left Jerusalem to join Al Hazred and continue MELECHESH in the Netherlands. In 1999, Moloch moved to France, completing the exodus of the MELECHESH horde from the Holy Land, all except for their drummer. Proscriptor, of the mighty ABSU, was then asked by MELECHESH to handle the drum work on the next album. In the early months of 2000, all the MELECHESH members met in the Netherlands and recorded the second album to be their debut release for Osmose Productions, titled "Djinn." Eventually, Proscriptor permanently joined MELECHESH and became their official percussionist.
2001 will witness the release of the MESOPOTAMIAN METAL MASTERPIECE, "DJINN".
