Kev Rowland It has been five years since Austrian Black Metal band Belphegor released their last album, ‘Totenritual, since when drummer Simon Schilling has departed. So, for this release they have brought in session man David Diepold while founder Helmeth provides guitar and lead vocals and Serpenth is still there on bass and backing vocals. There is no doubt that over the thirty years of their existence they have continued to be one of the most uncompromising bands around, so if they want to bring in passages which are incredibly melodic and have nothing to do with the genre, they will do just that, and if they want to bring in clips from horror movies why should we disagree?

They can be blasting along full-pelt at one minute, drop in some acoustic guitar, then keep ramping it up as if there had been no interlude whatsoever. This is particularly effective on “Damnation – Höllensturz” which also features orchestral and symphonic moments which ensure the song has a massive sound. Producer Jens Bogren has allowed the duo to get on with it but has captured all the majesty and passion which only comes from a black metal act on the very top of their game. Yet again they are singing in German, Latin and English, very much following the pattern they set for themselves all those years ago when they started and now they are on the twelfth studio album they are not going to deviate from their course.

It is the variety of styles which makes this such a fascinating release as while it is black metal to its core, there is a great deal happening within it which adds layers of complexity as they refuse to stay inside whatever boundaries many may believe define the genre. “Virtus Asinaria – Prayer” may have the guitar style we expect, but the drums are incredibly basic, and the speed much slower, and all of this is deliberate to create something which is almost at odds with what one might expect, and the Georgian style backing vocals does nothing to change that. Belphegor has been on the scene for 30 years but are still pushing the limits of what one expects from black metal, and the album is all the better for that.

Kev Rowland Some three years on from the release of 2017’s, ‘Totenritual’, Belphegor have gone back into the studio to re-record the song Necrodaemon Terrorsathan" and make it available as a single. At the same time, they have also reissued their third album, which has that song as the opening number. Singer Helmuth states, "We originally composed this album 1998-1999, recording and releasing in 2000. Our former guitarist Sigurd (1993-2006) who marched with me around the globe wrote three songs on this monster. Session drums were handled by Manfred “Man” Gandler (Mastic Scum) and bass by Mario Klausner (Pungent Stench, Collapse VII)". Helmuth and Sigurd knew each other incredibly well by the time they came into the studio, and this certainly comes through in the guitars which are intertwined and powerful.

Belphegor have long been held in high regard as one of the most consistent and in your face bands within black metal, and this album shows why they have managed to have such a long career. It is now thirty years since the first demo, but Helmuth is still there today, and that they decided to re-record an old number to celebrate the album must be applauded, as somehow, I have not previously come across this one. All these years on, and it sounds fresh, and if I had been told this was a brand-new recording, I would have accepted that on face value, as this is incredibly heavy, exciting, and true. There are some additional sounds here and there, sometimes there are some synths, but for the most part this is two guitarists ripping with a rhythm section, driving the music deep into the brain with quick riffs and a drummer who just doesn’t quit. There is a sense of melody within this, but always sticking firmly within the genre, producing the frenetic guitar and over the top style which for me really sets this style apart. The vocals are guttural, and not hidden, all combining to provide a feeling of blackness with a rich deep sound. If like me you missed out on this one first time around, now is the time to rectify that mistake.

Warthur Belphegor's Blood Magick Necromance has, perhaps, the perfect title for an album which draws equally on the smuttiness and cheesy Satan-worship of early Venom and the power and fury of more recent black metal. It's fairly straight-ahead black metal with clean production but not much in the way of technical flourish, buoyed by the band's gleeful embrace of erotic occult subject matter - like a cruder and more direct answer to Cradle of Filth with the symphonic metal side of the band swapped out for raw and dirty death metal. It's no classic but it's no slouch either, so on balance I think it's worth a spin even if it's no classic.