Belgian Steel

When you think of "good" NSBM, you think of bands that aren't so... up front with their ideology. Peste Noire might be quite obviously fascist but at least they aren't as overt as Aryan Kampf 88. Most bands that call themselves something relating directly to nazism are not good. (Der Stürmer, Hitler, etc.) This is not the case, however, as Belgian Steel is actually a solid black metal album.

From the start, this band wants you to know that they are neo-nazis. Track 1 opens with the famous Joseph Goebbels "totaler krieg" speech. In "Sieg Seger" (unrelated to Bob Seger) every other lyric is "Sieg Heil", and the outro track is a recording of some guy presumably ranting about his dislike of communism. I don't speak French but based off the theme of this album it's safe to assume that's what he's talking about.

Production is good, it's standard black metal fare, the riffs are typical of NSBM. Pretty raw but not as disgustingly inaudible as some bands. I don't hear much RAC influence, which is good, because Nazi punk is usually dogshit, aside from rare instances (bands like Mudoven). "Grand Aigle" is the one of only two tracks I would say is overtly influenced by RAC, and even then it's still a good song. The offbeat vocals and the "guy tearing his throat out" vocal style (of the whole album) can get grating after a while, but it's not *horrible* by any means, though I wish the vocalist would actually stick to the beat instead of just rambling. The other RAC-esque song is "Né Noble et Libre", a shorter, more upbeat song, just under 3 minutes, that still retains its black metal core.

This is a rare case of a band that shoves its nazism down your throat while still caring about making quality music. Good melodic black metal that doesn't overstay its welcome, despite its many flaws. However, I wish the album ended with a longer, more "epic" song akin to the sound of Derniere Salve than just end with a dark ambient track.

Overall I'd say this is definitely worth checking out. It's solid black metal. Plenty of bands to compare its sound to. Reminds me of M8L8TH a lot. The in-your-face nazism and "tough guy" aesthetic gets really corny at times. Good if you like the concept of Aryan Terrorism without the terrible musicianship Aryan Terrorism displays.

7.5/10 Me Gusta