Belphegor - _Blood Magick Necromance_
(Nuclear Blast, 2011)
by: Aly Hassab El Naby (8 out of 10)
As soon as I laid my eyes on this album's cover art, thoughts of horror, evil and paranoia came over me. This sadistically mutilated robotic goat-woman mutant indicates from the get-go that Helmuth Lehner and his cohorts mean business in its most horrifying senses. Belphegor's _Blood Magick Necromance_, for the blackened death metal genre, is like a fresh barrel of high octane gasoline being sucked in by a once efficient engine that's been running on low grade crap for far too long, save for a few exceptions. It's a forty minute aural massacre that will leave you careening in a daze wondering what just hit you.

Horror based intrigue is the primary undertone I caught from _Blood Magick Necromance_. It's an album that tickles the curious parts of the human mind that are interested in all things dark and masochistic. Mr. Peter TÃĪgtgren deserves kudos for the astounding production job he's done with this record. The frenetic drumming played herein could have put a lot of producers in a fix, but not this Swedish enigma. The vocal presentation throughout _Blood Magick Necromance_ also offers a variety of rasps, roars, shrieks and screams with some smart tricks from the man at the helm, like those done with the chorus vocals on "Rise to Fall and Fall to Rise" that made the vocals drift a little towards the Agalloch sound.

The seven minute long title track boasts a main melody that carries with it a hint of the Middle East, and it's fused with endless double bass drumming and creepy background keyboards thrown in for good measure. "Discipline Through Punishment" offers a rather intriguing mix of German and English lyrics with its crushing slower pace, while "Angeli Mortis De Profundis" turns the tempo meter completely on its head with flesh-tearing black metal disgust for three minutes. Supreme domination will take over as you listen to "In Blood - Devour This Sanctity", "Possessed Burning Eyes" and "Sado Messiah" as they employ a technique where melodies flow in a sinusoidal pattern as they're trilled with razor sharp precision; the choices of notes here are very intelligent.

Few would argue that the proverbial world cup of blackened death belongs to a three member European band that starts with the same two letters, but I would say these Poles have a tough challenge ahead of them now if they want those interested to stay on board. Belphegor have put together a hate-spewing slab of hateful metal that looks like a very realistic nominee for 2011's album of the year in the opinions of numerous black and death metal aficionados. Calling _Blood Magick Necromance_ dynamic would be an understatement that I'm not willing to make; this is a titanic contender in the speed and endurance record books.

Contact: http://www.myspace.com/belphegor

(article published 6/3/2011)


ALBUMS
10/16/2014 A El Naby 7 Belphegor - Conjuring the Dead
4/27/2008 J Smit 5 Belphegor - Bondage Goat Zombie
12/26/2006 J Smit 8.5 Belphegor - Pestapokalypse VI
4/7/2005 T DePalma 6 Belphegor - Goatreich - Fleshcult
12/26/2003 M Noll 8 Belphegor - Lucifer Incestus
7/3/2002 M Noll 8.5 Belphegor - Necrodaemon Terrorsathan
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