Year: 2022
Total Time: 36:18
Label: Nuclear Blast
In a few months the Austrian Death/Black Metallers BELPHEGOR, will complete 30 years of their blasphemous career and this year they decided to release their twelfth album “The Devils”, which comes five years after “Totenritual”. BELPHEGOR are a band, which although they have built a quite respected name in the Death/Black Metal scene, in the last years they haven’t impressed us with their releases, as musically they seem to be in a constant quagmire.
Although I didn’t have very high expectations for this album, I can say to my great surprise and pleasure that the Austrians managed to prove me wrong, as in “The Devils” they dared to add some new elements to their sound, with the final result doing them justice. The basis of their sound remains of course Death / Black Metal and songs such as “Totentanz – Dance Macabre” and “Kingdom Of Cold Flesh” stay faithful to the band’s violent character. These are the only moments in the new album where the rhythms move at a frantic speed, as in the rest of the songs BELPHEGOR decided to follow mid-tempo paths with a compositional “experimentation”.
So, in compositions like “Ritus Incendium Diabolus”, “Glorifizierung Des Teufels” and “Damnation -Höllensturz”, we notice that the band adds melodies with an oriental aesthetic and some instrumental parts which, combined with the guitars (they draw power from the huge MORBID ANGEL), bring to mind compositional approaches similar to those we have heard from NILE and SEPTICFLESH. Also, the slow rhythms and the variety in the vocals create an attractively majestic atmosphere, proving that this approach fits perfectly with the traditional style of BELPHEGOR. At the same time, the compositions manage to highlight their quality, thanks to Jens Bogren’s crystal production, while the stunning cover artwork by Seth Siro Anton (SEPTICFLESH) completes the whole profane package!
The Austrian Extreme Metallers manage to return with a very strong and quality album, which will stand the test of time, as the new elements added to their sound show the future course of the band. Also, the duration of “The Devils” (about 36 minutes), prevents the album from entering the dangerous path of repetition and reduced interest. Thus, BELPHEGOR’s compositional quagmire is over, releasing one of the best albums of 2022 for this genre, and an album that will be referred to as a highlight of their career.
Rating: 7,5/10
Editor: Nikos Manousis
Related Link: BELPHEGOR – Facebook Page
