Website: Belphegor
Ahhh, upside-down crosses and pentagrams. Amusing? Cheesy? Admirable? Unforgivable? The metal community as a whole has long since been decorated and embodied by songs of evil. And even though it should most certainly be played out in 2006, some artists manage to continue the legacy with style.
Austria’s Belphegor has been upholding this tradition for over ten years, and Pestapokalypse VI is the latest in the chapters of their black/death metal existence. Combining the traditions of speed, growls, screams, and gloom, it’s easy to fall into a cliche. Yet Belphegor has gone a step beyond the standard by diving deeper into it; detailing the evil rather than simply reveling in it. Throw in some German and Latin-language songs and suddenly, there’s much more life to the music than the average band of their ilk. Granted, they’ve been doing this for a while and Pestapokalypse VI isn’t much different from the rest of their discography, but it’s still nice to hear.
Very clean production amplifies every element of Pestapokalypse VI and truly lets their unique harmonies emerge. “Angel of Retribution,” “The Ancient Enemy,” and “Bluhtsturm Erotika” stand at the forefront of this achievement. While there’s not much musically here that hasn’t been heard before, Belphegor owns their sound and viciously works to move forward rather than repeating themselves and everyone else on the market. Between the concept and the strength of musicianship, this is a black metal-flavored disc that stringent death lovers and even power metal fans could appreciate.
Dynamics, passion, and 4-inch-nail gauntlets. Take the cliches as they come, but in a genre that has long since become cookie-cutter, Pestapokalypse VI makes it a bit more interesting by running with it full-force.
