Band:	Burzum
Album:	Belus
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	March 08, 2010
A review by:	Lucas

01. Leukes Renkespill (Introduksjon)
02. Belus' Død
03. Glemselens Elv
04. Kaimadalthas' Nedstigning
05. Sverddans
06. Keliohesten
07. Morgenrøde
08. Belus' Tilbakekomst

Let's not waste too much time squabbling over Vargs crazy antics. It's already surreal enough that there's a new Burzum out, let's not overload our poor brains. Belus, or the White God, has enough of Varg's magical touch to cause controversy from the very first second it was announced, with Varg playing his favourite part as innocent Manuel "I know noooothing". Ah, good times.

After majestic albums such as Det Som Engang Var, Hvis Lyset Tar Oss and Filosofem, a return to Black metal as promised by Varg left half of the Burzum-camp excited and the other half sceptical. For all of them, there's really only one question and that is: will Varg piss on his own legacy or not? Well, for all those that hate cliffhangers (I'm one of you): yes. Ok, his legacy may not be drenched in urine, but it definitely needs a change of underwear.

Belus aims to hypnotize the listener, but it fails due to too much fluctuation in songwriting quality, a lacklustre production and a general feeling of "we've heard this all before". Unfortunately for Varg, the tidal wave of bedroom depressive Black metal bands he inspired are the reason why Belus fails to impress.

As stated before, the songs vary too much in quality. While a few songs achieve the desired drony trance ("Glemselens Elv", "Belus' Tillbakekomst (Konklusjon)"), others sound too dull and bland to deserve a place in Burzum's discography ("Belus' Død"). With his monotone and repetitive style he takes a risk with each single riff, it absolutely has to be great to deserve endless repetition, and he just swings-and-misses too often. He should've taken another five years.

"Sverddans" and "Keliohesten", tracks five and six respectively, also do the album no good with their faster pace and hateful nature. Although decent songs in their own merit, they break the hypnotic cycle (which already tends to collapse on itself due the weak building bricks a.k.a. riffs incorporated in the structure). And that the most memorable riff in "Keliohesten" is a typical De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas-riff, that is just pure ironic gold.

However, by far the most disappointing element of Belus are the vocals. Varg has lost it. His wolf-esque howls have been replaced with mediocre, wholly unimpressive run-off-the-mill shrieks. You'd figure that after so many years of prison his shrieks would have entered a new dimension of pain ("pick up the soap, Mr. Arsonist"), but they have only grown tame and lame. He seems to have noticed this too, as he utilizes them less than before, often opting for clean vocals instead. These clean vocals are nice surprise - he does them with verve - but they cannot salvage the vocal performance as a whole.

In conclusion, Belus is a disappointment. It's not incredibly bad, it has its moments, but it ultimately fails to impress. You'd expect this from a beginning, potentially decent depressive Black metal band, but from Varg? No. Unfortunately for him, his legacy and his devotees have surpassed him. If this did not have Burzum written on the cover, nobody would have given a crap.