Belphegor are one of those sorts of bands – you know the type. Settling early on for a familiar combination of established styles, they achieve a degree of success for doing what they do well and without pretension. The inevitable backlash kicks off after the album which is widely regarded as being their best and they’re accused of “selling out” when they sign to a comparatively big label. The rest of their career is then spent putting out variations on the same basic formula while the fans argue about whether they’ve truly regained their early quality. It’s a dance we see a little too often in a genre that would like to see itself as beyond fashion, and Belphegor seem to be following the established pattern well.
Conjuring The Dead (Nuclear Blast) picks up where they let off from with the supposed “return to form” (according to some fans, anyway) Blood Magick Necromance, with the same combination of catchy Death Metal and atmospheric Black Metal that the band have firmly established as their own. There is a sharp focus on song-writing here, most songs being based around a catchy riff or verse structure, and Erik Rutan’s production gives the band a punch they haven’t always had. Opener ‘Gasmask Terror’ is exactly the slap in the face they need, a neck-snapping catchy assault that allows them to release the throttle on some later tracks without losing too much steam. Calling this music “accessible” sounds like some elitist slur, but within the conventions of Black/Death Metal Conjuring The Dead very much errs on the side of catchiness and safety, being enjoyable, but not in any way threatening or challenging.
Conclusion – it’s a Belphegor album! If you care enough to actually hear it, the chances are that you know what it’s going to sound like already. To an impartial ear it sounds like a pretty decent one, but no doubt hardcore fans will take up large chunks of Metal Archives’ bandwidth arguing its exact place in the canon. The rest of us will probably enjoy it while it’s playing and then promptly forget about it.
6.0/10.0
RICHIE H-R