ALBUM REVIEW: Forgotten Land Of The Lost Souls – Belial’s Throne
Formed in Ireland in 2016, Carlow’s BELIAL’S THRONE may not have produced much in the way of music, but they have distinguished themselves as one of the best underground acts within the Irish black metal scene. Their debut EP, 2020’s Pavor Nocturnus, showcased some brilliantly catchy and focused melodic black metal that made them stand out significantly in Ireland’s small but vibrant extreme metal scene. Just over three years on from the release of that record, the quartet are back with their debut album Forgotten Land Of The Lost Souls, another great piece of slick, focused black metal that adds even more impressive material to the band’s growing repertoire.
The title track kicks things off in epic fashion, with bleak, melodic guitars and shrill vocals providing an incredibly tight, catchy sound that immediately grabs the listener’s attention. It’s a slow burning track that gradually builds from a ponderous, sombre opener towards a forceful and frenetic sound, with energetic, precise drums and blistering guitars matching up with the sharper vocals to serve as a dramatic and grandiose start to the album which sets the tone for the rest of the record extremely well. After this fairly sprawling opening gambit, Void proves to be a shorter iteration of its predecessor’s style, albeit with an intricate performance from the drums and an ethereal, rhythmic guitar sound that is punctuated by slick riffs, with the vocals counterpointing this accessible feel with an acerbic edge that, along with some rabid bursts of intensity, lend this a darker sound.
Ascension Ritual, with its hypnotic style of guitars and thunderous drums, is an expansive piece of music that offers an atmospheric take on the band’s sound whilst remaining within a classic black metal style. It allows the excellent muscular guitars and arid vocals to carry the music, with the varied elements present here making for an immersive affair with lots of twists and turns. Pit Of Dead Realm, a monolithic, mid-paced juggernaut, embraces weightier guitars and huge, pummelling percussion to create a domineering wall of sound, with the biting howl of the vocals again adding a stringent contrast to the music. It shifts between bombastic, steady moments through to feral, unhinged ones with ease, and is another great example of just how adventurous this band are as songwriters.
Halls Of Silent Kingdom adopts the sort of sprawling guitars and haunting vocals that made Ascension Ritual work so well, with the hazier tone and coarser vocals giving this a murkier side, although the soaring leads do a lot to inject some lighter moments into the mix, transforming this into a leaner, more focused offering with a lot of imaginative flourishes peppered liberally throughout. Rejoin At Dusk, with its cavernous drums, aggressive hooks and wraith-like vocals, acts as a ferocious aural assault, with the angular leads and caustic bursts from both the vocals and drums adding a sense of urgency in spite of its fairly reserved pace.
Last Time We Meet, the last full track on the record, is a brief but brilliant number with perhaps the most spirited and feral drumming on the whole album, attacking the song’s backbone with a machine gun precision and backing up the magnificent guitars and sinister vocals perfectly, capping things off fantastically. The album’s Outro, a short, ambient piece with the accompaniment of cleaner, eerie guitars and throbbing bass, draws the record to a close in a spartan way, and feels a lot more cinematic than a track this short should be.
Like a lot of debut albums, Forgotten Land Of The Lost Souls is a little rough around the edges, due notably to the slightly muted production and almost non-existent bass sound, but it’s certainly not without its charms. It’s definitely a hell of a lot more fleshed out and imaginative than many underground black metal records, with the visceral vocal performances and slick, melodic guitar work being extremely reminiscent of ENTHRONED in their early days, creating a tight and punchy take on black metal that manages to be epic for the most part, but is more than capable of delivering the goods when it comes to speed and aggression as well. With luck, whatever the band does next will continue in this musical vein, but utilise a better production, as this, and this alone, is the thing that stops this album from having the impact that it really should have.
Rating: 8/10
Forgotten Land Of The Lost Souls is out now via Spread Evil Productions.
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