Lucifer Incestus

First off I'd like to mention the incredible album art, the sexy demon nuns surrounding Satan and his genitalia of light. Anyway this is about the music, not the fucking album art, which some people need to learn.

The excitement that comes from putting the first track on, then it blasting in to 'The Goatchrist' is an unimaginable sensation. The intensity and power of the riff coupled with drums is amazing. The vocals are shrieky and distorted as if it was actually the daemon Belphegor coming forth from the depths of hell. The buzzy guitar tone sounds excellent, it's much akin to the tone of Dark Funeral's 'Diabolis Interium,' but a tad more suitable to the genre. No two tracks on this album sound the same, making this enjoyable and fresh to listen to. The vocals and enunciation are far superior to the previous album, 'Necrodaemon Terrorsathan,' and the recording is far more aggressive.

There is a nice balance of dissonance and melody and the odd chugger riff that doesn't wear itself thin. The drums are much faster and more punchy than any of the bands previous albums. 'lucifer Incestus' is probably the most energetic album in the discography of Belphegor, which is an important factor when describing an album by this band, as they are notoriously very fast and ferociously blasphemous.

The most simply structured and personal favourite track on the album, 'Fleischrequiem 69,' shows exactly the epic sound Belphegor is capable of. A song consisting of approximately four chords, conveying a melancholic melody layered with somewhat priestly chanting and demonic vocals. There is no other word to describe the song other than excellent. The fucked outro to the song gives it even more points.

'Lucifer Incestus' should be in any extreme metal fans collection, as it is an essential to any fan of fast-as-fuck black and death metal.

Standout tracks - The Goatchrist, Diaboli Virtus in Lumbar Est, Paradise Regained, Lucifer Incestus, Fleischrequiem 69.

If I had a pound for every time I came across the subject of Lucifer in any band's lyrics, song titles or album titles, I could probably be rich enough to pay off my tuition fees. Of course, it's unsurprising just how much Lucifer is referred to in Metal, and more specifically, within blackened death metal (or if you prefer, black metal and death metal). The front cover of Belphegor's fourth album displays six naked women, kneeling down (aptly to Groin level!) in front of what is probably a depiction of Lucifer himself, who seems to be having a lot of fun. So, no prizes to anyone who wildly guess what 'Lucifer Incestus' is all about.

If your wild guess is unholy sodomy, blasphemous torture and the most wicked and vile of sins, you are correct. Anyone who so much as reads the lyrics of any song on 'Lucifer...' will automatically know that Belphegor love to write songs about rape and sexual torture. Helmuth pulls no punches in speaking of “Brute Impalement-by rotten cocks” ('Diaboli Virtus in Lumbar est'), “perform Fellatio-Religious fucked up Bitch” ('Demonic Staccato Erection') and “Cock of Flame-buttfuck me-rip me in half” ('The Sin-Hellfucked'). Need I say more?

Naturally, there will be those who don't even read the lyrics and merely focus on the music itself, and with 'Lucifer Incestus', everything has been improved upon since the band's last album, 'Necrodaemon Terrorsathan'. The production is much cleaner, giving way to the extremely fast and brutal guitar work of Helmuth and Sigurd, the automatic machine gun fire of Torturer's drums, and the throat-ripping vocals of Helmuth himself. In fact, Helmuth now seems to have a much wider vocal ranger than on the band's first few albums, showing that he can scream, hurl or growl his way through each of 'Lucifer...'s songs. Sure, the bass is rarely audible, and the blastbeats are nothing new at all, but with uncompromising brutality and terrifically eye-opening intensity, Belphegor have made this album to the best of their abilities.

What is particularly noticeable about the music however, is that both Helmuth and Sigurd's guitars sync so well with each other, that they never actually leave each other's side. They are like the Batman and Robin of blackened death metal (not the best of my comparisons, but I feel it fits). Every song, most notably on the scything 'The Goatchrist' and ultimately melancholic closer 'Fleshrequiem 69/Outro' (notice the significance of '69' in the title...), is fully supported by the most violent and mischievous of riffs, not to mention the number of solos that could pop up anywhere uninvited and not seem unwanted. There is also variation regarding the tempo of the guitars too. Even though the majority of 'Lucifer...' is driven by razor sharp riffs and and ultra fast guitar work, the almost slow moving, hellish harmony of closer 'Fleshrequiem 69/Outro' and extremely tense 'Fukk the Blood of Christ' (Oh those Austrians, spelling 'Fuck' wrong on purpose...) makes for an interesting albeit sinister listen, even if it puts some off altogether.

Strangely enough however, listeners may or may not find fault with 'Lucifer...' for the same reasons that occurred on 'Necrodaemon Terrorsathan'. The guitar work, as mentioned before, keeps this album from being a complete disaster (of which it is almost the opposite!), although the same old structure always seems to crop up on every song. Belphegor aren't an experimental band in any case, so you may or may not even listen to 'Lucifer Incestus', depending on what your views of blackened death metal are. If I could find any particular fault with 'Lucifer...', it is most definitely the annoyingly long intros found within the ode to religious war that is 'Paradise regained' , and sadistically sexual 'The Sin-Hellfucked' made me personally want to hover my finger over the 'skip' button. This is a common flaw found within most of the band's longest songs if I'm honest, but some may put that down to the excessive black metal influences recurring within the band's material.

All in all, 'Lucifer Incestus' shows a vast improvement of the croaky vocals and sometimes muddy production of its predecessor, but at the same time retaining that important aspect of their music, which stops 'Lucifer...' from becoming a total bore: Their unwillingness to slow their sound down and let up on their offensively written lyrical content.

I discovered this band accidently back in 1997 when the cover of Blutsabbath caught my attention in a record store. I had never heard of them and picked it up solely because of the cover. Shortly thereafter I found The Last Supper at the same store. Ever since I’ve been telling people about them and generally got the response of they suck, it is the other Belfegor that’s great. I have not heard that for awhile now. With the release of Lucifer Incestus the response now will be what other Belfegor?

This is of course supreme death/ black art from Austria. From the screaming nuns to the chanted vocals they deliver violence and fury at full velocity. Once again excellent drumming, intricate guitar leads, and screams and growls to perfection. They have cranked it up in speed to Panzer level and added utter brutality. The production is clearer so each instrument stands out. The drum especially sounds great. Belphegor has also moved closer to mostly death metal from Swedish black, just don’t lose the dual vocals. The songs demonstrate long hours of practice and are the most memorable to date, and despite the speed they are always under control. “The Goatchrist” has dominating guitars with hyperspeed melodies and about equal time to each vocal style. “Demonic Staccato Erection” is more sedate with brutal drumming that is not quite so frantic with heavy cymbal work. The rhythm guitar is slow and Helmuth employs an inbetween style of vocals at the end. “Paradise Regained” has a very brief atmospheric intro then pulverizing intensity, the uberpanzer. The bass stands out more as well. “Fukk the Blood of Christ” starts off slow and ominous, the drums kick in slow, chugging rhythm guitar then blastbeats and minimalist guitar leads- high pitched squeals and lengthy slower sections without words to end one of my favorite songs pre Lucifer.

Having one song that surpasses most previous efforts but gets blown away by most everything else on this album demonstrates how far they have climbed. The title track is next and it’s back to pulverizing nuns. “The Sin Hellfucked” has clearly heard bass, heavy cymbol use, chaotic swirling lead guitars, and a Voivodesque ending. “Fleischrequiem” is a highlight of the album with acoustic folkish guitars and chanted vocals in addition to the black and death styles and some anguished screams along with fast drumming. Easily one of the best of 2003.

Originally written for http://teethofthedivine.com

Austrian extreme metallers Belphegor waste no time in getting started on this classic blackened death metal masterpiece!
From the intro, aptly entitled "Inflamate Christianos", it's apparent that these guys don't fuck around! The listener is greeted by what brings to mind a church burning with a demonic orgy of truly epic proportions happening in its midst... only to be bashed over the head with the pure aural brutality that is "The Goatchrist", easily one of the strongest tracks on the album, a furiously paced example of how extreme “extreme metal” can truly be! Accompanying the relentless riffs and blasphemous blastbeats are vocals that range from indecipherable grunts to shiver inducing screams. Mixed in with this brutality are hints of melody that give the chorus and closing a epic, goose bump inducing feel.


Next up, is “Diaboli Virtus In Lumbar Est”, while sacrificing none of the blatant brutality or blasphemy from the previous track, melody is at the forefront here, as sweeping harmonic passages greet the listener amidst unrelenting blastbeats. Helmuth’s vocals are in top form here, as each scream and heretic grunt delivered is more frenzied and more powerful than the last (if that’s even possible!).


And as the song fades into obscurity, a new sound invades the listener’s senses… that of a nun being fucked and whipped! This quickly changes to “Demonic Staccato Erection” which is aptly named given its intro! Very little melody is present here, as this track is seemingly more “death” than “black” metal, as everything about it is dirtier and with no holds barred, you are presented with a nasty ass piece of blackened death metal! While the vocals on this cd always carry a demonic air about them, it is more apparent on this track than any other.


Now, in order to not be redundant, I won’t go through the rest of the tracks in such detail, but the remainder of the songs on the album do bear resemblances to those first three. “Paradise Regained” meshes the ugliness of the previous track with the sheer brutality of “The Goatchrist”. While “Fukk The Blood Of Christ” follows a similar pattern, but with a mid-paced tempo accompanied by Christ-crushing riffs and a truly blasphemous chorus! “Lucifer Incestus”, the title track, is the shortest on the album, yet is arguably the most frantic, as with Terrorizer’s brutal fuckin’ blastbeats and double kicks, Helmuth’s heretic grunts and sweeping, frenzied leads along with those of Sigurd’s, and Barth’s “4-string terrorism” the song packs more of a punch in just under three minutes than many bands could hope to achieve over the course of an entire album! “The Sin: Hellfucked” is much the same way, but despite several changes in tempo throughout the track it still manages to be the most repetitive song on the album. This still isn’t to say that it’s bad by any stretch of the imagination, as much like the rest of the album, it still adheres to the strict standard of sheer brutality that only a band of Belphegor’s caliber can deliver!


And with that, we come to the album’s closer “Fleishrequiem 69” which is an entity all its own. This song brings both brutal and beautiful to mind… it truly is a volatile combination! Shortly after bashing the listener in the skull with its opening, which is classic Belphegor, an acoustic passage interweaves itself into the song, giving the listener a chance to catch their breath, right before they are exposed to a truly awe-inspiring progression which perfectly blends the brutality found on the rest of the album, with the melody present in the pre-accompanying acoustic passage. It must be heard for one to fully comprehend it. Haunting demonic chants give way to more acoustics before the aforementioned progression is repeated, which is just as brutal, black, and beautiful the second time around!


This album is a true “blasterpiece” in every sense of the word… and at the risk of sounding redundant, this album is truly brutal. I know I’ve thrown that word around a hell of lot during this review, but I’m simply trying to get a point across: this album is fucking BRUTAL. “Lucifer Incestus” comes with my highest recommendation for those who like their metal black, brutal, and at times, beautiful!


Furthermore, I’d like to send my eternal hails to Helmuth, Sigurd, Barth, and Terrorizer for crafting such a motherfuckin’ perfect piece of supreme blackened death metal!

Funny how Napalm Records is the home of this band, as they stick out like a sore thumb amongst all the power metal & melodic bands on there! On second thought, better make that a bloody and mutilated thumb, as Belphegor really, REALLY shred on this album.

After the usual ambient intro, the band wastes no time in hammering you into pulp with the diabolically themed "The Goatchrist", with Torturer's furious blasting drums and some nice riffing over the top of it. They alternate blast beats with slower parts to deadly effect and the solo section even features some well-executed sweep picking alternating with crazed Slayer-like madness that comes off as more imaginative, chaotic, and fiendish as anything Messrs. Hannemann & King have played in years.

The rest of the album basically follows this template of frenzied blasting alternating with slower parts musically, and with (surprisingly) much better soloing than is to be expected by bands of this ilk. And damned if they don't work it hard and well, with a good sense of structure and dynamics. I could do without the obnoxiously triggered drums sound, of course--the snare in particular has that annoying tinny ring to it that bespeaks triggers. The rest of the album production-wise is pretty good, however, with thick guitars and a bottomy bass that is just audible enough.

Sigurd and Helmuth trade off some pretty sick vokills all throughout, with hoarse, gurgling death metal growls and scalding black metal shrieks making this sound like the soundtrack to a party in Hell. Then again, for all I know, Old Scratch may well listen to Hank III and the Damned Band (the country incarnation of his band). But I suspect that this would go over well nonetheless.

The lyrics, well, I' ll leave it to your imagination what titles like "Demonic Staccato Erection" (my fave song title on this album!) and "The Goatchrist" reveal. You can tell English is not their first language by the amusing grammatical errors that pop up left and right! There are lyrics in German and Latin as well on this album, adding a little extra flavor.

Overall, I recommend this album highly for a good dose of the concept of "blackened death" overall. This is what I think of when I think of that ideal, and you could do worse than these mad Austrians.

82?
-The songs may sound repetitive after a while. They are not very similar, but the blasts may confuse and remember other songs.
-Sometimes the drums sound like a drum machine in the highest settings.

This is a pretty solid album, the songs have a good structure and they are in a nice order. The production is top notch and it's not usual to listen to albums well produced like this one among black metal bands.

The vocals are amazing, their screamer changes from low growling to high pitched screaming and it's beautiful. For me, this is already a trademark of Belphegor and I help they keep it. I don't think the songs have a "evil sounding", for me, it's more brutal than "evil". Specially on this album, the songs are very agressive and if you are not ready to listen to them you may feel unconfortable. The only exception is the last track "Fleischrequiem 69". This one, for me, is evil and grim. The difference? It has clean vocals and it seems that there is a priest singing along with the screams. The drums are always the same, blast!! Not that this is bad, I mean, it's great.

Now, I wanted to comment on that. The names of the songs are funny sometimes, as in Fleischrequiem 69 they get some names of usual black metal songs and put them togheter. Take a look in the new album "Pestapokalypse VI". Then you'll see what I mean, hehehe.

In an overall this album is a great effort from Belphegor and it deserves a lot of attention. If you are into brutal death metal and black metal I tottaly recomend it, but do not expect to find a Darkthrone or Mayhem clone. Belphegor has built their own style over these years, reaching a point of being a "unique band".
For those who already know Belphegor: do not expect something very different. As you might know, they improve their sound in every album, but they don't change it.

Yes. This comes definately out of hell. I'm sure!

This was more or less Belphegor's breakthrough into the internation scene. This album's predecessor "Necrodaemon Terrorsathan" was already a great punch in the face, but this one takes the cake easily.

Lucifer Incestus(what a great album title, too!) has even more death metal influences then it's predecessor and takes the aggression to an even higher level. Especially the songs "Lucifer Incestus" and "The Goatchrist" crush everything on their way.

The vocals are unbelievably evil and strong, both the shrieks and the growls are totally flawless. Well, Helmuth was always a great vokillist, no doubt about that.

Lucifer Incestus is also a very technical album, especially in the guitar department, there are not many slow moments to find here and even at this incredible speed, the riffs and solos that Barth and Helmuth spit out are still astounding.
My favourite Belphegor drummer "Torturer" also appears on this album. His speed and his technical abilites are even beyond awesome, he's a maniac behind the kit!

So, this is Belphegor's best moment. I have only heard two songs of "Goatreich - Fleshcult" yet and they sound very promising, but right now, Lucifer Incestus takes the cake. Technical, fast, evil, harsh = The sound of hell.

My favourite songs: Lucifer Incestus, Demonic Staccato Errection, Fukk the Blood of Christ and Paradise Regained.

Raw Sewage? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?

A must for all fans of Death/Black Metal.