Lord Belial Nocturnal Beast
Regain Records - RR 075 - November 17th, 2005
by Stuart Norman
In Nocturnal Beast, their second offering on Regain Records, I am surprised and disappointed to hear Lord Belial offer up an album of such little inspiration. After a decade in the business and six albums in, this latest release can only really be described as wholly unspectacular. I can forgive Lord Belial the mandatory and entirely superfluous intro, but 10 subsequent tracks proper of practically indistinguishable mid-paced metal just isnt enough from a band of this supposed calibre and pedigree.
There is one overriding reason that from Succubi Infernal to Spiritual Damnation the Nocturnal Beast fails to make any kind of lasting impact and its really quite simple - each and every single song is in the same 6/8 time sig and the same mid-paced tempo. Either or both of these things neednt necessarily make for a poor album, but it takes an array of original ideas and intelligent arrangement to give the album as a whole texture and contrast. Lord Belial simply dont offer this here, and there seems to be two or three central ideas or themes (at most) which recur throughout, resulting in an album thats well boring.
Almost any of the songs in isolation could be reasonably good when taken out of this context. The arpeggiating clean guitar over a few heavy pulled chords can give quite a pleasing result, but please, not for a full 45 minutes. A lack of imagination in arrangement and structuring has not let what are essentially a few nice initial thoughts develop into engaging songs. There are a good few moments of rather tasteful guitar playing, both clean passages such as those in Insufferable Rituals (which teases you for a minute long intro of 4/4 before relapsing back into an almost comatose 6/8) and leads on Monarchy of Death. These seem to merely amble through the proceedings rather than give any of those tracks the shot in the arm they deserve.
The Nocturnal Beast never audibly stumbles, it never completely falls down, all the performances on offer are competent enough, and the production solid enough that it can be enjoyed on a certain level. Just dont pay it too much attention or you will find its frailties become all too apparent and begin to gnaw at you. If you can reach the penultimate track without giving up on life, Indoctrination of Human Sorrow is clearly the outstanding track Lord Belial have to offer in this release. With a little more of that old school feel, and some more engaging progressions, this track provides something a little more tangible and distinguishable.
Nothing here will grab your attention or imagination the way Kiss the Goat did, which despite all its frailties it had some character! (And I dont just mean the bright pink cover art) But a pedestrian experience almost from start to finish, with very few distinguishing features and utterly forgettable and unimaginative tracks, Nocturnal Beast is just Lord Belial at their most frustrating.
4/10
Official Lord Belial Website
Official Regain Records Website
Regain Records - RR 075 - November 17th, 2005
by Stuart Norman
In Nocturnal Beast, their second offering on Regain Records, I am surprised and disappointed to hear Lord Belial offer up an album of such little inspiration. After a decade in the business and six albums in, this latest release can only really be described as wholly unspectacular. I can forgive Lord Belial the mandatory and entirely superfluous intro, but 10 subsequent tracks proper of practically indistinguishable mid-paced metal just isnt enough from a band of this supposed calibre and pedigree.
There is one overriding reason that from Succubi Infernal to Spiritual Damnation the Nocturnal Beast fails to make any kind of lasting impact and its really quite simple - each and every single song is in the same 6/8 time sig and the same mid-paced tempo. Either or both of these things neednt necessarily make for a poor album, but it takes an array of original ideas and intelligent arrangement to give the album as a whole texture and contrast. Lord Belial simply dont offer this here, and there seems to be two or three central ideas or themes (at most) which recur throughout, resulting in an album thats well boring.
Almost any of the songs in isolation could be reasonably good when taken out of this context. The arpeggiating clean guitar over a few heavy pulled chords can give quite a pleasing result, but please, not for a full 45 minutes. A lack of imagination in arrangement and structuring has not let what are essentially a few nice initial thoughts develop into engaging songs. There are a good few moments of rather tasteful guitar playing, both clean passages such as those in Insufferable Rituals (which teases you for a minute long intro of 4/4 before relapsing back into an almost comatose 6/8) and leads on Monarchy of Death. These seem to merely amble through the proceedings rather than give any of those tracks the shot in the arm they deserve.
The Nocturnal Beast never audibly stumbles, it never completely falls down, all the performances on offer are competent enough, and the production solid enough that it can be enjoyed on a certain level. Just dont pay it too much attention or you will find its frailties become all too apparent and begin to gnaw at you. If you can reach the penultimate track without giving up on life, Indoctrination of Human Sorrow is clearly the outstanding track Lord Belial have to offer in this release. With a little more of that old school feel, and some more engaging progressions, this track provides something a little more tangible and distinguishable.
Nothing here will grab your attention or imagination the way Kiss the Goat did, which despite all its frailties it had some character! (And I dont just mean the bright pink cover art) But a pedestrian experience almost from start to finish, with very few distinguishing features and utterly forgettable and unimaginative tracks, Nocturnal Beast is just Lord Belial at their most frustrating.
4/10
Official Lord Belial Website
Official Regain Records Website
