Band:	Lord Belial
Album:	Revelation: The 7th Seal
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	2007
A review by:	Herzebeth

01. 7th Seal
02. Ancient Splendor
03. Aghast
04. Death As Solution
05. Unspoken Veneration
06. Death Cult Era
07. Vile Intervension
08. Gateway To Oblivion
09. Unholy War
10. Black Wings Of Death
11. Grievance

More than 10 years of hard work and crushing music back-up this band; Lord Belial has been a solid group since 1995 when their blasphemous debut full-length saw the light. Their sound (and even their logo) kept evolving through the years, finally they reached a stage where their Black Metal is standing in a very powerful peak...

"Revelation" is then very similar to "Nocturnal Beast", this new album doesn't climb any higher and it surely isn't a dissapointment; the fans of the Swedish band will settle with this piece allright, others will see another masterpiece in "Revelation" even though it uses the same structural formula than its predecessor, and so on. The truth is, this new album sounds amazing as a whole, but the substance of it was previously managed and crafted, it's just a matter of logics that's all.

The scheme has been mentioned in the previous paragraph, so let's talk about the music in general. "Revelation" is a morbid black metal assault, an album so balanced that creates an incredibly hostile experience in both, high and low, levels. That's the main vein of this album, the first tracks mislead the listener with their unbelievable mild approach while the rest of the songs are waiting to blow your brains out with speedy riffs and violent beats without hiding their melodious influences.

If you've heard Lord Belial latest efforts you already know they're lined towards the melodious side of Black Metal, they don't like things to be raw or noisy, they instead grab their drilling elements and convert them into a melodious tune. This album ends up sounding like a rough battle between later Marduk and early Old Man's Child, fortunately, as the tunes aren't lengthy, this becomes a placid and bearable listen.

This record has very nice cuts, some of them would even fit in a "Best Of..." compilation (Vile Intervention for example) and that says a lot from an album. Though "Revelation: The 7th Seal" isn't a masterpiece and is surely not their best effort to date, it's a decent purchase if you're into Melodic Black Metal, acoustic intros and power-metal vocals are waiting for you in "Gateway to Oblivion" my friends.

Best Tracks: "Aghast", "Vile Intervention"