BELPHEGOR - Totenritual gatefold-LP (Crystal Clear/Gold/Back Splatter Vinyl)

Crystal Clear w / gold & black splatter vinyl limited to 1500 copies.

To begin, the mixing and mastering on this album is Belphegor's finest yet. If you have a nice car stereo or a confined space with quality speakers, those are ideal environments for listening to this record. It's got a modern sound to it, but still retains a very nice touch of old school rawness to it, especially in the guitar and snare tone. I struggle finding anything to complain about in regards to production quality; the bass is audible but not overbearing, and laid neatly on top of the drum track, and the guitars are exactly where they should be. My one semi-complaint is the overuse of vocal layering. It's really not necessary as much as this band seems to think, and although the technique is overused, it's still very well done.

Moving on: song structure / composition. Belphegor really manage to keep things interesting all throughout this album by incorporating such elements as gaps in the guitar track to let the bass or drums shine through, but only at the exact right moment, just before the riff or phrase gets stale. Perfect examples of this are Baphomet, Spell of Reflection, and Embracing a Star. Another great element is the occasional use of acoustic guitar at certain moments throughout, such as the end of The Devil's Son. Unlike death metal / grindcore outfit Aborted, who also absolutely love using old horror movie samples, Totenritual keeps them short and sweet at the beginning of certain tracks, and they never overstay their welcome.

I also have to express my adoration for the extremely adept use of chants peppered throughout the album, such as in Apophis: Black Dragon. They're perfectly executed, and they support the positively evil imagery being painted by the riffing and lyrical concepts. When done right, I firmly believe that blackened death metal is the perfect concoction for the most sinister sounds that extreme metal is capable of producing. Many parts of this album are very reminiscent of Behemoth's Zos Kia Cultus or Demigod; lightning fast blast beats with airtight tremolo picking to accompany.