siLLy puPPy
One of many young metal bands emerging from the shadows of the underground, MOLEKH made an appearance on Wisteria Records’ behemoth of a compilation “Metal Madness Vol. 1” and was one of the bands that appealed to me the most. The band formed in Dublin, Ireland but judging from the names of the band members, they all seem to be of Polish descent. In January 2018, they released their very first demo available on Bandcamp ( https://molekh.bandcamp.com/releases ) which offers a short taste of three tracks not offered on the Metal Madness comp.
The name MOLEKH is a variation of Moloch, Molech, Milcom or Malcam which is a biblical name of a Canaanite god associated with child sacrifice, so you know you’re in for some extreme brutal and gory metal with this one. Likewise their three track titles are associated with gods, mythology and occult themes such as “Tophet” which refers a location where child sacrifice rituals took place. Nice cheery subject matter, eh? Well this is fucking metal in all it’s full glory here.
While the MOLEKH demo is a mere 14 minutes and 17 seconds long, it’s quite the beast of extremities. The overall sound is a polished hybridization of black and death metal glazed over with psychedelic atmospheres and avant-garde angular riffs. On the death metal side of the equation, the music is a fast and furious romp with heavy percussive drive and a steady stream of death metal gusto complete with tortured growling vocals.
On the black metal side, they takes the avant-garde weirdness of Deathspell Omega by utilizing dissonant angular riffing that display an off-kilter counterpoint to the steady rhythmic drive that is fueled by an energetic hyperdrive percussion that displays blastbeats that provide the scaffolding to let the guitar riffs buzz all over the place around them.
MOLEKH deliver a mature sonic feast of bombast as they find a midway point between the chaotic swirls of angular jangly guitar riffing and an accessible head banging groove. The production offers a nice mix of different vocal parts that actually do evoke a sacrificial vibe in the air. While the psychedelic aspects are minimal, the overall effect is quite trippy as the lead growls, guitar, bass and drums all have uniquely separate roles that create a greater sum of the parts. This is a band to look out for.