BE'LAKOR — Vessels (review)

BE'LAKOR — Vessels album cover Album · 2016 · Melodic Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
2.5/5 ·
Kev Rowland
Melbourne-based melodic death quintet Be’Lakor (the name was taken from a character in the Warhammer franchise and was the first mortal to become a Daemon Prince of Chaos) have had an incredibly stable line-up, with John Richardson (bass), Shaun Sykes (lead guitar), George Kosmas (guitars, vocals) and Steve Merry (keyboards) having been there from the band’s formation in 2004 right to the present day, with the only change being the introduction of drummer Elliott Sansom in 2016 before they started working on this, their fourth album. Having released their previous albums independently, this was their first through Napalm Records (that relationship continues through to their latest release as well, 2021’s ‘Coherence’), so they certainly made an impact with the renowned Austrian label.

It is shame the same can’t be said with me. Although the band are using a great many different styles, and they move deeply into blackened death territory with this one, the real issue is that it is boring with little here being memorable. Having played it a few times now each time it seems more like a chore than it does something enjoyable, but it is difficult to put the finger on exactly why that is the case. When all the elements are taken individually there are some nice things happening here with plenty of atmosphere, good musicianship and nice growled vocals, which means it must be down to the material which does little to grab the listener and bring them in. I did have a look at a couple of other reviews prior to writing this to see just how wrong I was, and it is interesting that one person raved over this while the other felt pretty much the same as me. It just shows how subjective reviewers are even though we try to be objective, so if melodic death is your thing (especially with plenty of black metal influences) then this may well be for you, I just know it isn’t for me.
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UMUR wrote:
11 months ago
That´s pretty much been my experience with Be’Lakor too, but I´m determined to go through their discography and review it to see if my opinion has changed.

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