Maximum Metal Rating Legend

Lord Belial Revelation: The 7th Seal Company: Regain Records Release: 2007 Reviewer: Grim Gaijin Genre: Black

Great for fans of early 90's melodic black metal

One of the pioneer bands of the Blackened Death Metal movement is Trollhattan, Sweden's Lord Belial. For nearly 15 years, Lord Belial has been infiltrating the metal scene with their unique blend of melodic death metal and black metal. With their 7th full-length release - Revelation: The 7th Seal - Lord Belial has once again taken command of the scene with this powerful new release.

The album opener is a short acoustic piece that sounds as if it could have been recorded for Testament or Forbidden in the late 80's to early 90's. Without missing a beat, the short intro rolls right into the mid-paced Ancient Splendor. Full of black metal riffs and a steady amount of double bass drumming, this is a great album opener to prepare listeners for the chaos to follow. The next song, Aghast, explodes through with a melodic black metal riff, complimented by blast beats to give us that ancient black metal sound. The fourth song, Death As Solution is even faster and melodic and also introduces some near-clean vocals as well as blackened vokills. Next comes Unspoken Veneration, another blast beat filled anthem with a hint of death metal riffs. There are also some Voivod-esque riffs to add another dimension to this great song. The pace slows down a bit as Death Cult Era takes over the speakers. Next comes Vile Intervention. With a great classic death metal intro, the black metal melodies eventually take over. This song also has some great guitar duo solo work. Gateway To Oblivion starts off acoustically then molds into a mid-paced, melodic tune. Unholy War intensifies the CD once again with an Iron Maiden style riff and masterful drum work. The next song, Black Wings Of Death, starts with a great death metal style riff and then changes to a more melodic riff followed by some sick vokills and double bass drumming. The final song on the CD, Grievance, is a departure of sorts from the rest of the CD as it is a short acoustic passage with occasional vokills and simple percussions.

Lord Belial has stayed true to form (and themselves) with the release of Revelation: The 7th Seal. Although it is not the bands best work to date, it would still be a great introductory to someone new to the band or the Blackened Death Metal scene in general. This CD is also great for fans of early 90's melodic black metal and for fans of the slower songs of Marduk.