In the dark and sinister world of Black Metal, Belphegor are a big gun. No doubt about it. Listening to “The Devils,” their newest material, my child of the night will easily get to know why. The unexpect is an important part of Belphegor’s musical narrative. “The Devils” was written to tell a story and my child of the night will notice it by its musical narrative or simply the weas the songs are linked and the way they go on. Interwoven with all those traits there is the unexpected. This unexpected can a surprise or not. In musical terms, it is something in the music that makes some discomfort or raises the attention. As all Black Metal albums should be “The Devils” brings lots of discomfort to the listener. Album opener and tittle track “The Devils” sounds to be the soundtrack to an uncanny and gloomy terror movie. Or even a twisted and distorted piece of an opera. Its cadence has those rise and falls and a tricky complexity. It seems to go throught the right but then someting – the unxpected – arises and change the song. Vocals play a hard in it. They are somewhat out of the ordinary. It sounds as if it were a demon singing. That’s exactly the impression it gets. The guitars and drums follow the chaotic path vocals lead to. Belphegor have a deceptive sonancy as they seem to sound regular but in fact they don’t. I’ll admit I like that a lot. My child of the night will get that while listening to “Glorifizierung des Teufels” where the guitars sound as a buzzsaw and vocals as the devils the album tittle tells. The track is of that b*stial beauty.
“The Devils” showcases that Belphegor still lead the gloomy and dark path of Black Metal.
“The Devils” Belphegor was released on June 24th via Nuclear Blast Records.
Track Listing:
- The Devils
- Totentanz – Dance Macabre
- Glorifizierung des Teufels
- Damnation – Hoellensturz
- Virtus Asinaria – Prayer
- Kingdom of Cold Flesh
- Ritus Incendium Diabolus
- Creature of Fire
- Blackest Sabbath 1997
Watch “Virtus Asinaria – Prayer” official video here:
I’m just a lucky guy who has chosen metal to live with for a long time. Metal changed my life for good. It made me more confident and stronger. Metalheads are naturally far away from the mass mediocrity and don’t accept impostures from anybody else. Metal is more than music, it’s a life changing oportunity!