Belphegor - Walpurgis Rites: Hexenwahn (2009)

1. Walpurgis Rites
2. Veneratio Diaboli - I Am Sin
3. Hail the New Flesh   
4. Reichswehr in Blood
5. The Crosses Made of Bone
6. Der Geistertreiber
7. Destroyer Hekate   
8. Enthralled Toxic Sabbath
9. Hexenwahn – Totenkult

    Helmuth - Vocals, Guitar, Sampling
    Morluch- Guitar
    Serpenth - Bass
    Nefastus - Session Drums
+
    Andy Classen - Additional Samples

Long-running Austrian death/black metal band Belphegor are masters of track and album titles. Previous discs have sported names like Bondage Goat Zombie, Pestapokalypse VI, and Lucifer Incestus, with songs like "Belphegor -- Hell's Ambassador," "Sexdictator Lucifer," and "Demonic Staccato Erection." This new disc includes such life-affirming anthems as "Hail the New Flesh," "Veneratio Diaboli -- I Am Sin," and "Enthralled Toxic Sabbath." Which makes the prospect of a Belphegor album exciting on its surface. The trouble is the actual music. It's pretty much rote black metal with some death metal flourishes, like tweedly guitar solos and gut-shaking double-bass drumming. There are a few stand-out moments, like a slow, grinding passage in "Hail the New Flesh," but Belphegor really aren't doing anything on Walpurgis Rites: Hexenwahn that they haven't done on earlier albums. This album represents a holding pattern, not progress, which some might take to mean it's aimed solely at existing fans -- but, ironically, the band's very artistic stasis, and black and death metal's utter resistance to hooks and melody, mean that this album is also as good an introduction to Belphegor as any of their earlier releases. --- Phil Freeman, allmusic.com

To be sincere, I'm not that familiar with Belphegor and this is the first album I listen to for this band, all I know is that this is a new line-up for the band and they're worthy of a shot to see what these guys have got.

For years I used to think that true Black Metal is limited to Norway, Sweden and Finland, but while listening to the first few tracks of this album I knew that there's something wrong in the Natural Balance, I mean I was totally shocked when listening to the first 5 tracks, but when I reached the sixth one I knew that everything is just alright and the Natural Balance is not disturbed, why? Well they screwed here, but recovered well throughout the rest of the album.

The album starter is a typical Black Metal opening, a firm song, lyrically, musically, and the performance is good, and the delightful thing is that the song won't let you down with a bad solo or change in the attitude but will continue with the same rage till the end. As a whole the album is a true Black Metal album, the fast riffs and the outstanding drums that create the needed atmosphere for such a genre. Guitar solos in this album are so great too and really remind of some of Norway's best. The good chorus that is used in every song makes you long to hear it again and drive you to replay the song again and again and again.

Lyrics are so unique and serving well in the cause of the album, there's a mix between German and English lyrics which is so unique lyrical technique by itself. The good thing here is that the band has successfully used those simple, yet powerful, lyrics and made good rhymes.

Despite the fact that the music and lyrics are outstanding, the cover art work is good and the titles are good too but, the sixth song is a goddamn giant mid-finger for this album. This song is not Black Metal at all, it reminds a lot of the genre "Neue Deutsche Härte" like Rammstein, Oomph and the like of the German bands, and I really can't believe that a band like Belphegor who made such an album is responsible for this song. It's a real damn shame and that's why the album's got 89 out of 100.

In the end, the new line-up seems to be working it out so well and right, and I think Belphegor is really on the right direction. ---Polonium, metal-archives.com

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