[EDITOR’S NOTE: NCS writer Andy Synn reviews Belphegor’s new album . . .]
Well, the 9th album by the real Austrian death-machine is finally here. Immediate impressions are favourable, I’ll grant you that, but really what does one expect from a band like Belphegor whose past releases have all shared the same blast-frenzy?
For one thing, I’d say the sound is more “blackened” in several ways than either of their previous two releases, the guitar tone a little sharper and less “thick” than previous album Walpurgis Rites, the cutting riffs acting more like a scalpel than a bludgeon this time around. There is also a much more refined use of melody, on almost all of the tracks, that adds a sense of atmosphere.
This approach clearly stems directly from Bondage Goat Zombie and Walpurgis Rites (which could be considered the start of a new chapter for the band), but the overall feeling of the new record is of a far more agile and dangerous beast.
Whilst the “chunkiness” of the previous two records may be mostly absent, the song-writing incorporates far more subtlety and nuance (well, as far as a Blackened-Death metal band with an obsession with Satan and Sado-masochism can be considered subtle and nuanced) and uses many of their own familiar tropes in new and interesting ways. The differences in production and tones also allow a wider emotional palette to be invoked and the whole record feels arguably fresher and more supple. (continued after the jump . . .) Continue reading »
