A welcome surprise on this Friday morning: Over ten years after their latest album, #Melechesh have released the first single of their upcoming EP 'Sentinels Of Shamash' (10.04.2026) and it's as magnificent and catchy as I hoped. đŸ€˜

Give it a spin if Black Metal with oriental harmonies sounds like something that could interest you.

đŸŽ” Melechesh - Raptors of Anzu
👉 https://song.link/y/gESmxS7AcQg

/cc @derthomas

#BlackMetal #Metal #MossysMusicSpotlight

MELECHESH - Raptors Of Anzu (Official Lyric Video) by Reigning Phoenix Music

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Fucking Melechesh are back!!!

đŸŽ” Raptors Of Anzu by #Melechesh
▶ https://song.link/y/cDvtAgoMbww

#TomsMusic #NowPlaying

Raptors Of Anzu by Melechesh

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Melechesh are back, too đŸ€˜

https://song.link/i/1870639590

What a song!

#metal #melechesh

Raptors Of Anzu by Melechesh

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Impureza – Alcázares Review

By Angry Metal Guy

Founded in 2004 by guitarist Lionel Cano Muñoz (of Spanish descent, but born in OrlĂ©ans, France), Impureza is based in France but fully embraces Spanish heritage in both concept and execution. Jokingly called the “French Nile,”1 Impureza blends extreme, brutal death metal with rich cultural motifs and flamenco. AlcĂĄzares marks Impureza’s third full-length album in 15 years. The album continues the band’s legacy of high-concept releases, following La Iglesia del Odio (2010, an Inquisition-themed album) and La CaĂ­da de Tonatiuh (2017, an Aztec Conquest-themed album).2

Conceptually, AlcĂĄzares is based around the Reconquista, a centuries-long conflict between Christian and Muslim forces that started in the 8th century, following Tariq ibn Ziyad’s conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom in 711 and the Battle of Covadonga (in ~722) and ending in 1492 with the establishment of the Catholic Monarchs.3 AlcĂĄzares means “fortresses” or “palaces.”4 The word is derived from Arabic, “al-qaáčŁr” (Ù±Ù„Ù’Ù‚ÙŽŰ”Ù’Ű±),5 which means the same. As with many things on the Iberian Peninsula, like flamenco itself, the tension at the heart of AlcĂĄzares is between cultures, faiths, and empires—specifically between Islam and Christianity, the Moor and the Castilian. Symbolically, the title evokes the contested strongholds of medieval Spain: places of siege, destruction, religious power, and shifting dominion between Muslim and Christian empires.

Seven years have changed and improved Impureza. At its core, their sound is best evoked by invoking two excellent bands: Vidres a la Sang and Æternam.6 2017’s La Caída de Tonatiuh was replete with the blasty, brutal ’90s style death metal (à la Vidres a la Sang), a sound near to my heart and that in a lot of ways has receded in the modern death metal landscape. Alcázares doesn’t shy away from this sound. If you needle drop anywhere in the 49 minutes of music on Alcázares, you are likely to land within a minute of blast beats, guttural vocals, and trem-picked, harmonized guitars. The Nileesque brutality sets down the deepest root of their sound, but the tree has also flowered over the years.

Where La Caída de Tonatiuh felt like the tale of two records, Alcázares feels unified. Having backed away from single-minded br00tality, Impureza does a better job of integrating the different flavors of their sound. The real innovation is that they have discovered dynamics. More clean vocals (“La Orden del Yelmo Negro,” “Castigos Eclesiásticos”), better use of integrated acoustic guitars (“Pestilencia,” “Castigos Eclesiásticos”), and the strong melodic content of flamenco—still bearing the history of MENA influences—evokes Æternam’s last two records and even at times Melechesh. For me, this is a perfect blend of brutal and melodic. I love the growls, the anthemic cleans, the fretless bass (“Ruina del Alcázar”), and the tightly integrated feel.

Integration of flamenco and metal is not easy. This is because these two genres of music are fundamentally quite different. Said differently, flamenco is progressive as fuck. It uses a 12-beat cycle,7 where accents fall unpredictably (on beats 12, 3, 6, 8, 10), rather than on typical downbeats.8 Additionally, these cycles blend note-groupings of 2s and 3s (hemiolas), which create shifting accents and internal tensions. I can only imagine that this is genuinely tough to integrate into metal, which operates in 4/4 or 3/4 or, when we’re feeling particularly saucy, 7/8. So, while some moments here threw me at first—seeming messy or chaotic, almost like a band that wasn’t playing in time (for example, on “Santa Inquisición” and “Pestalencia”)—I realized that what I was hearing was the sound of innovation and adventure.

In addition to compositional innovations and refinements, Alcázares benefits from notably improved production. The mix is cleaner, clearer, and better balanced than their previous album, allowing each element—flamenco, cleans, and death metal—to find its place without overpowering the others. It’s probably too loud, but it is never muddy. The guitars shimmer when needed and crush when they must. The bass is visceral and perfectly matched with the drums, and though they sound crushed and a bit mechanical—it is Jacob Hansen, after all—they punch through with precision. Everything feels tighter, more refined, and integrated in a way that I genuinely love.

Impureza has an Orphaned Land-like quality of disappearing and then reappearing to remind you of just what you were missing. AlcĂĄzares is Impureza at their most ambitious: historically immersed, sonically expansive, blasphemous, and, well, super into the (alternative) histories of colonialism. AlcĂĄzares is a violent, poetic invocation of Spain’s medieval imagination, and it sports an enchanting vibe that recalls some of the best records I own. Seven years of development resulted in a record full of tight riffs, beautiful guitar work, and intense compositions, and they somehow managed to work a Necromancer into a historical concept album (“El EjĂ©rcito de los Fallecidos de Alarcos”). I would say that I hope to see something from them soon, but I’m happy to wait another seven years for another record of this quality.

Rating: Very Good!
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s CBR MP3
Label: Season of Mist
Websites: impureza.bandcamp.com
Release Date: July 11th, 2025

#2025 #35 #Aeternam #AlcĂĄzares #DeathMetal #Flamenco #FleshgodApocalypse #Impureza #Jul25 #LaCaĂŹdaDeTonatiuh #Melechesh #Nile #VidresALaSang

I have a playlist called "Best of Holy Shit Metal" and this one is on there..

đŸŽ” Lost Tribes by Melechesh
💿 Enki, 2015
▶ https://song.link/y/NNN-2wvLmJQ

The album cover is one of my favourites.
The song also ripps.

Ashmedi must be the summerian god of riffs.

#TomsMusic #NowPlaying #Melechesh

Lost Tribes by Melechesh

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Here's a good night song for you. Some mesopotamian blackened death that'll bring you sweet dreams and facemelting riffs:

đŸŽ” Lost Tribes by #Melechesh
▶ https://song.link/at/i/1458698130

Lost Tribes by Melechesh

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I was randomly listening to a collaboration between Mastodon and Lamb Of God when I read @neurothing's #ThursdayFiveList toot - #TheCollab

I feel obliged to participate, so here it goes:

Lost Tribes - #Melechesh feat. #MaxCavalera
https://song.link/at/i/1458698130

I Ain't No Nice Guy - #Motörhead & Ozzy Osbourne (& #Slash)
https://song.link/at/i/192927475

Under Pressure - #Queen & David Bowie
https://song.link/at/i/1422664556

Tonight - #TinaTurner & #DavidBowie
https://song.link/at/i/726154494

Shake Your Blood - #Probot feat. #Lemmy Kilmister
https://song.link/at/i/1036946257

Lost Tribes by Melechesh

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