Bezaliel

Bezaliel is a black metal band from San Francisco that rose from the former ashes of Vergewaltiger and Verlassen. They released their debut album in late October named "Bezaliel", and from the cover, one would expect some GBK-worship. While the band certainly does sound like another one of those GBK clones, at the same time, I still think they did a phenomenal job as far as debut releases go.

Right from the first metal track "Raped Upon the Altar", we're thrown with various nods to the GBK style of USBM. This includes the riffs having a mix of a harsh sound with some melodic, traditional heavy metal-like undertones. The drumming is also pretty bombastic with a diverse range of slow and fast beatings that reinforces the intensity of the riffs. Even the bass is audible, with its deep tuning providing a good foundation in the tracks. As far as the GBK-worship stuff goes, it's not only faithful to the original band, but with the more modern production and some influences taken from Greek black metal bands like Varathron, I think the album still stands on its own. This is especially the case with my favorite tracks "The Broken Seal of Solomon" and "Walls of Heaven Smeared with Mortal Blood" with a higher emphasis on the melodic riffs and bombastic drumming. I should also briefly mention some of the instrumental interludes such as "Mourning in Sepphoris", which are fine on their own, but I personally feel like the album could've done without them. Otherwise, the instrumentals are really good overall, and do a wonderful job as being a homage to GBK.

The vocals are also pretty good. Both Nekromutilator and Dominus Laniatus do the vocals on here, and as reflective on the instruments, are also pretty brutal. The vocals mainly consist of shrieks with a youthful personality in them. They might not be the best, but when they get the job done, they get it done pretty well. A good example of this is "Sempiternus Immortalis", one of the slower and heavier tracks on the album. With the riffs taking on a more emotional route, the vocals not only flow well with the droning riffs, but also further enhance the blasphemous themes within the track. While not as impressive as the instruments, the vocals are still good at unleashing some gnarly shrieks.

At just 35 minutes long, Bezaliel wastes no time on their eponymous debut. Those who are a fan of GBK's signature riffs will love the vast amount of juicy riffs on this one, as well as the booming drums and intense vocals. It's clear that the band has improved a lot since their initial debut as Vergewaltiger, and I'll be looking forward to see where the band goes from here.