Band:	The Belonging
Album:	An Immortal Creation
Style:	Blackened death metal
Release date:	2011

01. Archangel
02. Militant
03. Slave
04. A Fearful Bloody Lesson In Slaughter
05. Procreation Of A Demigod
06. Hymn Of Agincourt
07. An Immortal Creation

What the fuck have we here? The album opens with a schlick-schlock of a gun being cocked then all hell breaks loose. Blazing shimmering riffing, pounding drums, and a vocalist gurgling about war machines and blitzkrieg... did I wander into a Marduk album?

The Belonging hail from jolly old England, but there is nothing jolly about these guys. An Immortal Creation's opening salvo "Archangel" might sound at home on Panzer Division Marduk, but The Belonging are far from a one trick pony.

While the primary attack of this band is "Kill, Crush, Destroy" mode a la Marduk, they also have chops and sensibility. So rather than 30 minutes of blast beat low-E tremolo rape, they bring a lot of other elements in to play.

There is a dual-vocal attack, low growling as well as more traditional BM screeching/rasping.

They have a relentless drummer who is perhaps a distant relative of the Terminator. He cannot be reasoned with, doesn't feel pity, or remorse. And he absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead. Or maybe just deaf...

The guitarists display some chops, standard BM tremolo riffing abounds, but is countered with scattered winding riffs that are reminiscent of Nile. They'll also lay off from time to time and let strings resonate a bit to create an eerier atmosphere.

During a section of "Slave" the band even switches it to something that sounds like current Enslaved, expansive guitar lines backing clean vocals. The shift caught me off guard, as did much of the album. It was better than I expected, particularly after the first minute or so of "Archangel". I liked it plenty, but was fearful of 30 minutes of the same song repeated ad nauseum and was instead met with a barrage of ripping metal that covered a good bit of stylistic ground without getting stale or boring.

So they wear some of their influences on their sleeves? Meh. Ultimately this sounds really good and is really well executed, both in terms of how songs are constructed and how they are actually played. It is an enjoyable album.

Or as The Belonging might refer to it, a "Fearful Bloody Lesson In Slaughter".