Belphegor - Blood Magick Necromance

Belphegor are back with another dose of their usual BDSM-friendly Blackened Death Metal. The songs are still about Satan (or “Sathan”), sex and whatever deviances whet their whistle.  Armed with their best production courtesy of Peter Tagtgren, Belphegor have never sounded so splendidly sinister.

Both Bondage Goat Zombie and Walpurgis Rites - Hexenwhan featured Belphegor slowing down to allow to develop spectacular atmosphere while still showering the listener in heaps of blasts, swarming riffs and Helmuth’s spitting snarls. Blood Magick Necromance expands upon this formula.  Album opener “In Blood - Devour This Sanctity” moves between blistering speeds to Blackened grooves. The song almost moves like a turbulent ocean between the two tempos and the riffs swirl around nicely. “Rise to Fall and Fall to Rise” does slow things down to a near crawl and the song really unfolds into a rather epic piece that proves Belphegor is onto something when they aren’t only blasting for the horizon.

The title track heavily focuses on the swarms of riffing and blitzkrieg blasting.  A few keyboards enter the formula and some of the riffs cough up some nice Death Metal, grinding bass and even Doom-laden chunks. It all blends together into one of Belphegor’s most accomplished pieces.  “Discipline Through Punishment” is another brooding track that has late-Dissection-styled riffs/clean picking colliding with a slow Death groove and even a melodic hook that finds the band experimenting in slightly unfamiliar territory.  While the track is pure Belphegor at heart, the expanded style offers something new to their usual style.

Those worried that Blood Magick Necromance is a little too light on the blistering hysterics of the previous albums will be happy to hear “Angeli Mortis De Profundis.”  With little more than endless blasts and Blackened riffs the track will undoubtedly appeal to fans of the band’s speedier moments and even those that dig Dark Funeral. “Impaled Upon the Tongue of Sathan” also picks up the pace and gets the band back to their trademarked Blackened Death assault.  “Possessed Burning Eyes” finds the band teetering between their usual speed and then the slower moments from the beginning of the disc.  Clean picking appears towards the middle of the song and the bellicose drumming again slightly tweaks the standard Belphegor formula.  “Sado Messiah” closes the album in a whirlwind of slaying Blackened riffs and jack-hammering drums.

Blood Magick Necromance works because Belphegor succeeds in offering something they only dabbled in before: Slower Blackened Death Metal.  This will undoubtedly put some fans off as Belphegor built their perverted empire on being one of the fastest Blackened Death Metal bands around.  But the slower elements, longer songs and varied tempos allow for the songs to actually unfold instead of assault. And those that crave to have their skulls pulped will find enough of that here also.  Blood Magick Necromance is moody and mighty. It continues Belphegor’s journey to not be completely pigeonholed by the genre’s endless blasting expectations.  Armed with great production and great songs, this album may prove Helmuth wasn’t kidding when he said Blood Magick Necromance would be the band’s master work (or “werk”).  Highly recommended.

Release Date: February 8th, 2011
Label: Nuclear Blast Records

TRACK LISTING

1.  In Blood - Devour This Sanctity
2.  Rise to Fall and Fall to Rise
3.  Blood Magick Necromance
4.  Discipline Through Punishment
5.  Angeli Mortis De Profundis
6.  Impaled Upon the Tongue of
     Sathan
7.  Possessed Burning Eyes 1997
8.  Sado Messiah


Total playing time:  40:42

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Reviewer: Rottenbucher

January 21, 2011