Customer Reviews

The Seal of Belial

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The Seal of Belial is the fifth album from Swedish black metal band Lord Belial. Being produced and mixed by Andy La Rocque, it has a much fuller and powerful sound than their earlier releases and contains lots of melodic guitar playing and vocals that shift between tortured black shrieks and low death metal growls. I've always been a big fan of midpaced black metal littered with churning guitar riffs that achieve melancholy a la old Ulver and Agalloch. As a matter of fact, I had to think of Ulver when listening to the acoustic passage on the title track minus the folk elements. This song has a great melodic phrasing to it and the band also explores subtle variations of time signatures towards the end. Agalloch comparisons could be made about "Chariot of Fire", another midtempo cut with doubled vocals, gripping melodies, and lachrymose chanting-like lamentations.

Lord Belial's cold, dreary acoustic passages are laced with occasional clean spoken parts, while the faster and double drum bass-driven sections feature intensely powerful and raw experiments of the genre's earlier outputs. "Abysmal Hate" and "Legio Inferi" are speedy and grim works of modern black metal with occasional female vocals by Marielle Andersson and they alternate between moody, calm passages to crunchy (in a Dissection kind of way) guitar-driven crescendo riffs with almost sing-along vocal harmonies. There is an underlying yearning for Middle Eastern resonance on "Abysmal Hate" that could bring Nile to mind for a moment with sickening deep growls by frontman Thomas Backelin, but before the similarities are fully acknowledged, the song ventures into a symphonic black metal outro featuring impressive orchestration and sound effects. The last two songs also sport a guest appearance by Andy LaRocque who lays down killer lead guitar work. LaRocgue's triggered and compressed drum sound on "Armageddon Revelation" really pushes the song and allows Daniel Moilanen to enhance the creepy and evil atmosphere of the song. However, it is "Scythe of Death", the album finale, that might really impact the older Belial fans. This is the re-recorded version of the track which they previously released as an MCD, but with better production and musicianship. LaRocque's guitar work on it is awesome, producing thick riffs with plenty of hammer-ons and dark melodies pulled out from the pits of hell. The distant female vocals intensify the song further closing the album on a melancholic and forlorn note.

Recommended to fans of melodic and atmospheric black metal that carefully avoids non-stop double drum bass cliches and throat-ripping screams. Pick this up if you're into the earlier works of Ulver, some Agalloch, In the Woods, and the first Katatonia album.

I decided to listen to this album on my iPod as I swept the house, knowing that while I do like the album, I never really dove into it. Nocturnal Beast was amazingly evil, but this is where Lord Belial spent all the melody, malevolence, and talent in their career. The bass isn't as fat as it would be on the next album, but it sure packs a punch and all while the leadwork is reminiscent of Iron Maiden - an unorthodox but brilliant combination when executed properly. Therefore, the overall tone (while still sinister) is more accessible to weak ears or to those who want to step into black metal territory. The production isn't raw; in fact, it's the complete opposite: thick, chunky, powerful, booming, and rich like Swedish milk chocolate.

Before really paying attention, all the songs sounded the same because of the same guitar rupture. Thus everything blended together smoothly and without repetitive formula. However, throughout my sweeping process from the bedrooms, to the kitchen, and down to the TV room, I could hear the distinct tempo changes riff melodies in the twin lead of the bass / guitar. One pulled off a wall of sound while the bass and guitar nailed the rhythm down like hot cakes.

Drumming was substantially limited to blast beats and the like pace keeping, but it's organic sound kept it right where I wanted it. Another interesting aspect I notice was the high blend of solos - they mixed in perfectly and easily without any break or interruption. Most of the solos are slow, but they carry teaspoons of NWOBHM. The riffs themselves have a medieval / classical-inspired touch that tastes like rainbow sherbet ice cream with those solos. Give this plus the use of haunting (but limited) keys and acoustics, and we have black metal simply done right. Backelin sounds like a demon pissed off as hell - no gutturals or a lot of growling; just screams that aren't in any way annoying or childish. His performance suits the music perfectly, but he isn't the reason why this album is so mesmerizing.

Now this album has been called doomy; while I wouldn't exactly call it that, it gets off that way for its thick, mid-paced songs. It sounds like your on your being escorted to Hell, with genocide being committed to your right and McDonald's on your left. The NWOBHM worship, significantly present in songs like "Scythe Of Death," "Abysmal Hate," and "Mark Of The Beast" prevent this album from bordering snoozeville, which some people seem to think. The more elegant tracks like "Legio Inferi" and "Sons Of Belial" in return give this album more class and a style of its own.

Angelgrinder served as the build-up while Nocturnal Beast represented the aftermath of this album. Lord Belial pulled all their shots on this one and created something magnificently chilling without giving up their roots. It serves as a great gateway album for new fans and also as pretty much their best work in my eyes.

Lord Belial is one of the top Black Metal bands! Clever lyrics, melodic and powerful. Angelgrinder is their best so far, but this is close. LB will never sell out, they have INTEGRITY!

this cds alright nothing at all original, to me it drags on tooooooooooooooooo long and sounds all the same.... id say get all the other albums except this one.... but if you must have this it aint bad... i played this cd at least 5 times in the 4months i had it, and its not the entire cd just about 2 songs... all in all not my fav. cd in my collection (theirs better bands)