Album Review: Belphegor - 'Conjuring The Dead'

11 August 2014 | 3:15 pm | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

All the best of Belphegor's sheer ferocious black metal with a fresh edge.

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Belphegor have a common front. Known for their thick and ferocious brand of death metal, the Austrian heavy-hitters found their sound early and have been working said sound for a long while...at least until predecessor, ‘Blood Magick Necromance,’ which, needless to say, created both excitement and controversy with a new style. 2014 brings a new album for Belphegor and with it; new and improved developments in the form of, ‘Conjuring The Dead.’

The full-length wastes no time throwing you into the pit with the absolutely thunderous and pummelling guitars and blastbeats of ‘Gasmask Terror.’ What the initial work to show is more of Belphegor’s classic black metal acumen but, as the record progresses, we see the band branching out more and more.

The title track takes a slower tempo while still hitting you with angry growls and an overall brutal atmosphere, while thrash influences creep in during ‘In Death.

Some acoustic work in ‘Rex Tremendae Majestatis’ offers us yet another little dose of something new. The higher pitched vocals on this track are hauntingly vicious. Contrastively, ‘Pactum In Aeternum’ offers slower, beautiful acoustics accompanied by eerie vocals and whispers, which end the album on a memorable note. It’s great to see Belphegor branch out with their sound on 'Conjuring The Dead'.

'Conjuring The Dead' manages to showcase all the best parts of Belphegor's signature black metal sound while incorporating some new and fresh elements. The group has managed to create something ferocious and different without straying too far from their classic sound.

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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