Year: 2020
Total Time: 35:31
Label: Nuclear Blast
Twenty years have already passed from its initial release, so now the Austrian satanic black metallers have decided that the time was right to fix a few things and put back in the market their third and most significant album, the one that actually opened for them the gates of more prestigious festivals and record labels since it was after that time that they started a new career under the wings of bigger labels such as Napalm Records and Nuclear Blast, with which they are still joined until these days.
For the history we have to mention that this album was originally recorded and produced back in 1998-1999 and three of the songs we creations of the previous guitarist Sigurd (1993-2006). The band has re-recorded the homonymous song, which they released as a digital single, while the rest of the album was remixed and remastered by Andy Classen at the Stage One Studio in Germany.
Many are the examples of rereleased and remastered records that have caused conflicts between the fans. I assume this will happen here too, but I cannot say that the whole result is what we could call disturbing. What I mean is that both the re-recorded first song or the work that was done to the rest haven’t removed any of the elements that we all know and love this band for. All the filth, the satanic atmosphere and the brutality that is the bands trademark all the years is still here, the only thing is that those who are familiar with the original version will see that things are more clear now and you can hear parts that were lost because f the cheaper production, without having the feeling that there was compromising or any attempts for commercializing their stuff. The band still sounds fierce and the album gets the modern sounds it needs in order to stand well and introduce itself to the newer extreme metal fans who prefer the modern sound than the raw stuff that we, the older fans are more used to.
So, while we are waiting for a new album next year as a follow up to the album “Totenritual” of 2017 lets warm up our ears with this older but renewed material that we highly recommend to the younger fans who discovered BELPHEGOR in their newer years and are now digging in their great past.
Rating: N/A
Editor: Antonis Livanios
Related Link: BELPHEGOR – Facebook Page
