Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 8/8/2014
Label: Nuclear Blast
‘Conjuring
the Dead’ CD/LP/DD track listing:
1). Gasmask Terror
2). Conjuring The Dead
3). In Death
4). Rex Tremendae Majestatis
5). Black Winged Torment
6). The Eyes
7). Legions Of Destruction
8). Flesh, Bones And Blood
9). Lucifer, Take Her!
10). Pactum In Aeternum
Bio:
Having risen
to icon status when it comes to supreme death / black metal art, BELPHEGOR are
now strengthening this level with their new masterpiece, »Conjuring The Dead«.
Ever since their now legendary debut »The Last Supper« in 1995, mainman
Helmuth and his henchmen have relentlessly worked their way to the top with
technical skills, sophisticated songwriting and truly blasphemous lyrics.
After spawning »Blood Magick Necromance« in 2011, BELPHEGOR are back with
their highly acclaimed fifth Nuclear Blast release: »Conjuring The Dead« - an
opus that sees the band ready to conquer, possessed, on fire and
stronger than ever. The ten new compositions unleash a state of brutality yet
unknown to mankind. Soundscapes of a melodic monstrosity, forceful & fierce
yet fulfilled with razor sharp precision. Straight in-your-face onslaughts,
devastating string-slaughter, blazing machine gun drums and the sickest vo-kills,
exceeding even the sickness of any other BELPHEGOR release to date!
For the first time ever BELPHEGOR is
reinforced by two guest musicians: Joining in for vo-kills on ‘Legions Of
Destruction’ are DEICIDE’s Glen Benton and MAYHEM’S Attila.
The production comes from none other than
legendary studio wizard and HATE ETERNAL head honcho Erik Rutan, who gave the typical
BELPHEGOR sound a menacing depth that will leave you, feeling you just been run
over by a WWII battle tank!
For visual duties the band gathered forces
once again with Greek artist Seth Siro Anton, who also painted the cover of
»Pestapokalypse IV« in 2006.
The
Band:
Helmuth | Heretic Grunts,
Chainsaw
Serpenth | Bass Devastation
Marthyn | Drums (Session)
Schoft | Guitar (Session)
Review:
I’m
going to begin this review by admitting upfront that I am someone who has their
fair share of eccentricities. A lot of those eccentricities in the context of
musical taste involve drumming and drum production. To my ears; there isn’t
anything that will tank an album for me quicker than either a bad drum
production or techniques that raise my ire, like the “everything all at once
two-foot blast”. It’s something I am simply incapable of ignoring and I’m
completely set in my ways. I won’t say there aren’t any exceptions at all. For
instance, Suffocation’s ‘Pierced from Within’ is an album I can tolerate,
despite some lame, flat blasting because the material is so stellar in every
other regard. The problem is, very few albums have material good enough to make
me forget the irrational hatred I have of bad drum production or technique.
That
brings me to ‘Conjuring the Dead’, Belphegor’s tenth full length album in just
over 20 years. The snare sound nearly killed this album completely for me. It’s
not that it sounds like an oil drum ala Metallica’s St. Anger. It’s actually
the opposite. It sounds like it came from of a $300.00 keyboard. The volume of
it is frustratingly consistent, even during some of the fastest blasting on the
album. That raises a red flag in my mind, since the snare diminished like
normal during the same drummer’s performance on the last Belphegor album;
‘Blood Magick Necromance’. The snare’s loudness during those full-speed-ahead
sections of the album is detrimental to the point of losing some excellent
guitar parts (see “Black Winged Torment”) in the mix. The snare is
high-pitched, dull and gated too tightly, so it doesn’t really have any impact.
If you think I’m insane for spending over half of my review on the sound of a
single drum; I understand. I willfully acknowledge that my hatred of something
like this-for many this is a marginal detail-is completely irrational. You
might be fine with it, but it’s like a dog whistle for me.
Now,
I’m well over half way into this review and I haven’t described the music very
much, so I suppose I should do that. To be simplistic; it sounds like most
Belphegor has since ‘Necrodemon Terrorsathan’, meaning slick blackened death
metal blending elements of American-style death metal with Swedish-style black
metal. You’ll hear familiar elements of Morbid Angel, Dark Funeral, Marduk,
Behemoth and others, and this is certainly Belphegor’s slickest offering to
date on the whole. Aside from the aforementioned snare, everything sounds
great, with plenty of heft and clarity, making the snare thing all the more
frustrating (again, probably for me and no one else).
These
days, I’m finding Belphegor’s most interesting moments to be the ones where
they open things up a bit more and throw in some fresher elements or delve into
more melancholy musical themes, such as with the opening moments of “Rex
Tremendae Majestatis”, which feature acoustic guitar and church bells to great
effect. It’s a bit more dramatic than the bulk of the album, which can seem a little
dry at points. In a broader sense, I have a feeling that everyone who has
enjoyed what Belphegor has done since 2000 are going to get a satisfying meal
with 'Conjuring the Dead'. I definitely hear the quality and value in the
album; I just can’t get beyond the snare. You’ll probably be just fine.
Words by: Daniel
Jackson
You can pick up a copy here
For more information:
