Lord Belial – "Unholy Trinity"

Bring on the new age of blasphemy

Welp, yet another metal band that I never got around to checking out until now. In the case of Lord Belial, though, the reason I might not exactly have been eager to pursue any acquaintanceship back when is that I wasn't always able to take black metal very seriously.

Or, at least that's what I've been telling myself: That all those spikes and all that panda-makeup and blood-spitting was kinda ridiculous in all its OTT theatricality. Especially seeing as how the actual damn music often just sounded like a bunch of rusty nails and broken glass in a blender.

But the truth has a bit more to it. Because deep down, I did feel a bit uneasy with the genre's extreme paratextual elements, as it were. Yes, and with the hostile, chaotic expression of the music as well. Indeed, most metal listeners – like yours truly – started somewhere more diplomatic and gradually worked their way into the more radical subgenres. And this, kids, is why it's good that we have bands like Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth.

Today, while I'm still not hearing a lot more than aforementioned blended nails and glass when listening to some of black metal's alleged pinnacles, I am also becoming increasingly more sick and tired of popular music seemingly never running out of ways of pandering to the apparently least critical common denominator. I am sick and tired of incessant, auto-tuned anti-melodies over cheap click-noises with less personality than an algorithm and less artistry than a dog turd with a cocktail umbrella in it. And I am sick and tired of metal music misguidedly mutating into sterile 9-string grooves over Beat Detective drums that sound less like actual heavy metal than Avril Lavigne.

… And this, kids, is why it's good that we have a band like Lord Belial.

Granted, it is all VERY genre. Even the gritty, chainsaw-like guitar distortion is pure black metal standard. Same goes for the dirty tremolo riffing, the violent blast beats, and the profane demon snarl. However, Lord Belial are as professional at what they're doing as the most professional groups of their ilk – as one should rightly expect from any band with more than 30 years of experience. Not only is every single vulgar note and every single furious drum bash played with all the ardor of someone who have, indeed, spent more than 30 years perfecting auditive extremity without quite possibly ever quitting their day jobs; it as also played as precisely and meticulously as could be expected from exactly those same people.

The whole thing is carried out with a conviction, professionalism, and a near-tangible Devil-may-care attitude – equal parts convincing and irresistible.

And all of a sudden, as opener "Ipse Venit" has been rashly spewing pure, cold annihilation for 1.5 minutes so enduring that they feel like it could have been the entire song, a break introduces a delicately captivating pure Minor-key theme over a harmonic cadence. This chorus is not only redemptive and recognizable later on, but it doesn't pander just because it's melodic – the whispered title is legit spooky, and all the surrounding chaos more than makes up for any pleasing tonality.

This, kids, is how you damn well cut it. And waddyaknow, you can even actually hear what's going on. On a black metal album. Yeah, I know, right?

Apart from the opener, there are some other standouts. "The Great Void", for example, while not being very memorable, reaches sonic heights alike to only the steepest ever ascended in black metal, not merely incorporating a choir and string instruments, but even some long, floaty stadium power chord blocks, driving that momentous mountaintop moodsphere home. And then, are those fucking kettledrums? I mean, holy shit, people.

The nefarious "Blasphemy" is as much of a statement of pure aggression as it is a statement of idealism – or, perhaps rather, the exact opposite. And while in the genre, a line like "It's the dawning of a new age / An age of blasphemy" might not exactly be original, it is a more than refreshing parole in this detestable era of woke and political correctness run wildfire. Choke on your hysteria, pathetic wimps.

I am sick and tired of metal music misguidedly mutating into sterile 9-string grooves over Beat Detective drums that sound less like actual heavy metal than Avril Lavigne. And this, kids, is why it's good that we have a band like Lord Belial.

And then there's album closer and third single (!) "Antichrist" – also far from a very inventive title or thematic given the musical category here. But spanning a considerable dynamic range, and evolving as meticulously as a better song from the band's countrymen in Opeth, going from a completely basic, almost modest "Rock #1" drive to an infernal blast holocaust. Again, lines such as, "Come forth, the dark Messiah / Come forth, Antichrist" aren't original by any stretch, but the whole thing is carried out with a conviction, professionalism, and a near-tangible Devil-may-care attitude – equal parts convincing and irresistible. And again, in the midst of all the darkly maniacal conflagration, a melodic background theme completes the picture. And following the verse lines, another little melodic figure, clearly echoing early Iron Maiden.

Also the otherwise ominously slow waltz of "Serpent's Feast" has clear hints of Maiden in its chord progression and theme. Here, those elements contrast a huge, bare space based on a sinister whole-note figure. Those constantly raspy vocals might do with some variation, but on the other hand, it is wonderful to bask in such uncompromising and anti-commercial of an expression.

With all its tried-and-tested genre staples and downright clichés, an album like "Unholy Trinity" might not exactly be considered art. But that aside, it is still as bulletproof and mighty in all its professional execution as the best albums from Satyricon, Marduk, and Immortal. And in this sorry day and age, it is more than gratifying for any actual metalhead.

Rating: 5 out of 6

Genre: Black metal
Release date: 27/6/2025
Label: Hammerheart
Producer: Well damn, it's Andy LaRocque