Belphegor - Totentitual

I have to be honest, I’m not that familiar with Belphegor’s back catalogue. I saw them open for Deicide a few years back and seen them go from strength to strength since then. I never fully investigated them simply because they never fully remained on my radar, and I never really know where the best place to start was with them as they have such a large body of work. So I will be reviewing this album at face value and not so much where it sits with the bands previous albums.

Belphegor walk the fine line between Death and Black Metal, and the band have brought up a fan base from both sides of the fence and also are able to tour with bands on both sides of the spectrum also. Much like Behemoth they lean more to Death Metal musically with their Black Metal roots still intact and elements still used, to give the band’s sound a unique flavor.

'Totenritual' is the band’s eleventh studio album, and thie album has many layers and levels and you submerge deeper into those levels the further into the album you go. The album start with familiar blast and shred, fests like 'Baphomet' and 'The Devil’s Son', which brings to mind classic Morbid Angel and Behemoth and are sure future staples in the band’s live set.

As the album goes on we get deeper cuts like 'Totenkult' and the wonderful 'Spell of Reflection', which show the depth of the bands song writing. There’s mixtures of pace and tempo and melody and the instrumental 'Totenbeschworer' builds up a fantastically dark atmosphere. 'Totenritual' is a fantastic mixture of Death and Black Metal that reveals more with each listen, it’s certainly converted me.