Band:	Belphegor
Album:	Bondage Goat Zombie
Style:	Black metal, Death metal
Release date:	April 11, 2008
A review by:	Baz Anderson

Disc I [CD]
01. Bondage Goat Zombie
02. Stigma Diabolicum
03. Armageddon's Raid
04. Justine: Soaked In Blood
05. Sexdictator Lucifer
06. Shred For Sathan
07. Chronicles Of Crime
08. The Sukkubus Lustrate
09. Der Rutenmarsch

Disc II [DVD]
01. Bondage Goat Zombie [video]
02. The Whio & The Bunker [video]
03. The Root Of All Evil [Rehearsal Room]
04. Shredding Stage One [Studio Impressions]
05. Einmarsch [live]
06. Belphegor Maniakks

With a title and cover like "Bondage Goat Zombie" has, it is hard to keep your attention away from what might be lurking within. Austrians Belphegor return once more with album number seven in sinister form, threatening to pound you into the ground with their almost relentless blackened death metal style - but also give you a bit of a laugh in the process with song themes and titles such as the title track, "Justine: Soaked In Blood", "Sexdictator Lucifer" and "Shred For Sathan".

Whether this is serious or not becomes slightly irrelevant when we get down to the music however. Belphegor are a band that knows how to play together and have the capabilities of making crushing, death metal with blastbeats blazing at a great speed. Combining this and morbid sounding black metal guitar riffs makes for a somewhat haunting and dark experience, but not in the dreary and dull sense, this is fast and heavy death metal with no intention of putting you to sleep.

"Bondage Goat Zombie" has everything you would want from an album of this style, it sticks to an intense tempo whether the songs are full-on blastbeat fests such as the title track and "Shred For Sathan", or if they are heavier numbers such as the sledgehammer "Justine: Soaked In Blood".

Belphegor are not the fastest or most brutal band out there, neither are they the most blackened hate-filled band. The only niche Belphegor seem to fill is the one for strangely dodgy covers and half amusing song titles whilst the type of music they put across is not one with a playful undertone ringing over it.

Although the album does not suffer from the degree of monotony as some other death metal bands these days, the album is not razor sharp from beginning to end. The slightly dull "Sexdictator Lucifer" may let your attention wander, and the blastbeats towards the end of the album all ring the same tone as the ones at the start - but generally the album provides meaty death metal very suitable to get the head banging behind.

Even though "Bondage Goat Zombie" may run for some kind of title and cover of the year award, the album is not groundbreaking material and will not catch anyone off-guard. This is solid blackened death metal however and will satisfy anyone who decides, or dares, to pick up this abomination. When death metal is done right, it is always a pleasure to hear - and Belphegor do it right here. Although maybe slightly predictable, "Bondage Goat Zombie" delivers the goods.