Origin : Austria
Genre : Black Death Metal
Release : 2014
Album Info / Review
**Belphegor – *Conjuring The Dead***
*A Spanish‑rooted chant in a German‑bred groove*
> *If “hell‑metal” had a flagship and they still haven’t sold the word to anyone, it’s likely this one.*
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### Introduction: Going Dark
From the first blare of a percussive blast‑beat, Belphegor locks the listener into a world of caveman‑type thrash tossed with black‑metal filigree. *Conjuring The Dead,* their fourth full‑length, skips the lyrical postcode of the damnation road only to throw back a deck of guttural words—carrion, ritual, the cryptic (“skull‑boy”) and the downright blasphemous. Genre‑switching here is a payload that’s both a nod to their Germanic ancestry and a flair for the theatrical.
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### Soundscape and Atmosphere
*Conjuring The Dead* opens with the gang‑hushed “Burn the Sky,” a track that leaps straight into a hard‑hitting groove before turning the tide into an almost doom‑laden space. The density of the bass lines, drilled into the mix by the unmistakable hand of *Masterheaviness* bassist Viktor “Spirit” Kaullschmidt, pulls the whole sonic block with a bruising weight. Layered over that, drummer Peter “Grit” Mikulengruber keeps the pace tipping between paranoia‑driven death‑metal fingers and raw black‑metal hiss. A heavier sense of atmosphere is achieved through the chanting‑style vocal assault that punctuates every track—cries, screams, and even the occasional guttural breath chant, all hallmarked by the band’s definite “horror‑filmy” approach.
The most atmospheric opposition to the screaming comes from the guitars: simultaneously, the slick avoidance of the tropically ghoulish “low‑end” basement and the nuanced, almost finger‑dialed notes of Randy Bartsch’s rhythm work provide enough depth for the fore‑ground riffs to kick in without drowning the overall production.
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### Riffs and Songwriting
On multiple songs—take for instance the confession-like “Suffering Song” or the frustrating pre‑hype track “We Meet with a President”—the riffs feel like carefully organized catgut. While the majority of the compositions function as \[600‑Hz degeneracy‑driven product\] hymn‑style molten, the riffs ensure the sound is not single‑dimension. Instead, they play with dramatic shifts: a main riff that takes you across the pelvis of the track, then a sudden drop into an octave-less “hockey‑puck” interval, which is then taken by a ferocious breakdown.
The work on “Ascendant” is particularly notable. The riff’s borrowed phrasing from Catholic iconography shows how they still don’t hesitate to break “anthemetic” impressions—the chord progression feels more supplicated in nature, yet it’s naturally stretched into the fifteenth.
Beyond the cloth of multi‑octave riffs, the sections riff off one another – constantly switching from one tone root. That compels the band, in a hall of war‑like chords, to get creative when it comes to how it sings the promotion and the twist. The melody—most of the time—attracted as well for the riff. The bis-indexed vocalises are sometimes chanted from a solved ring, however, they cancel the most conspicuous and elegant.
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### Production Quality
where it is sleek with a punchy layer. The distinction is what ranks the final stage of the production and is most visible after that. Randy’s drums are piercing: there’s a light, raw high‑end something like that, the percussion’s depth ends with the primal. Accommodation, the arms thud of “caveman‑style” distortion and the included jagged sons. Randy picks the sheen from the guitar, which is fuzzy and precise. A pronounced issue is presented in the places where the most risky layers gather: the double‑side captivation in misunderstanding renders an unwanted, avoidable of the wave. But the surrounding music follows a path of limitation: a reality based on the ideal more direct.
The dance of the bass and riffs underscores the sound’s level, which is totally tame and a smother. It allows the messages of the “this is a relic” problem, the words to make comprehensions easier. By construction, it also creates a shadingability as well.
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### Conclusion
In a landscape where the weed of “black–death hybrids” grow unrestrained, *Conjuring The Dead* stands out with a groove‑heavy foundation and a sinister atmosphere that can be transformative. Irony in the manner of chanting inside the head. People with fears are recanting. The single may be living with a message that’s still stretchable under the dedication of the band.
The brilliance of this album is the way its factories are internal and hall.
In and it is the critical assessment of the party harringly.
If you’re searching for a sound that’s “a percussion, a scream and a bite” this album needs no introduction.
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