Lord Belial innovate and entertain with 'Nocturnal Beast'
Hailing (typically) from Scandinavia, with album covers depicting the usual dark, tortured and anti-Christian scenes you could be forgiven for presuming Lord Belial are more of the same typical Black Metal. Oh how wrong you are, whilst having provided innovation since their classic 'Angel Grinder' album, Lord Belial have managed to show their potential in unique metal stylings with their new release 'Nocturnal Beast'.
Howled vocals that sound like a camel slowly dying? Check. Blast beats to make your teeth wobble? Check. Guitars shredding in the background? Check again. Well guys, this certainly is typical black metal - but wait a moment - Slower atypical tempos? Melodic clean guitars? A more thoughtful and interesting song writing style? This is Black Metal guys, but not as we know it.
It is indeed this mixture of the almost timeless 90s Black Metal stylings with new innovative ideas and almost progressive techniques that makes Lord Belial's music so damning interesting. So many bands revisit the formula that such icons as Mayhem, Darkthrone and Emperor perfected without adding anything new to the plate, making a stagnant and boring sound. Lord Belial however manage to pluck what is most interesting about this sound whilst still providing something new and fresh making them sound both classic and innovative in the same song, the hallmarks of the best sort of band. The mixture of clean melodic guitars with guttural howls and thrashing styles are most prominent on the track 'Nocturnus' and the laid-back whilst also harsh 'Monarchy of Death' which both rank as album highlights alongside the less-inventive but still blasting opener 'Succubi Infernal'.
This however is an esoteric release, if Black Metal isn't for everyone then experimental and provoking Black Metal certainly isn't, making this quite a niche release. However for those in the know 'Nocturnal Beast' will provide many juicy little musical nuggets for them to sink their proverbial teeth into, in no small part due to the production on this album. Whilst many Black Metal albums in their attempt to create a harsh and almost lonely sound can end up producing a noise that sounds too distant, too muffled and too far from the ears, this album mixes all the parts with masterly precision meaning the music is always audible whilst still having the dark and harsh qualities that it should be appreciated for.
Overall whilst perhaps not as strong, memorable or defining a release as 'Angel Grinder' and despite the fact it lacks a genuine classic like 'Divide Et Impera' from 'Unholy Crusade', 'Nocturnal Beast' is fittingly a beast of an album and the nine new musical offerings (Sorry guys, Intro and Outro tracks do not count) are all of a high enough quality. If you like your Black Metal harsh and blasting whilst still being thoughtful and engineering then Lord Belial's latest will hold something you'll want to hear!