Sounds> File under 'post-black metal'

I've been reunited with a long lost friend. I managed to find Belial's 1995 album '3' on eBay Italy and immediately placed an order for this rare gem that I had owned earlier but had lost along the way somewhere.

This is a remarkable album. It's pretty hard to get info on now, but when it was released in 1995 - same year I picked up a copy from a small store in Stockholm - it was hated by the fans, berated by the few reviews I saw and when I played it to my friends, they ridiculed it - especially the song 'Nautilus', which was my immediate favorite. And as far as I can tell, Witchhunt Records has folded since. Bad omens.

And I love '3'. Belial had previously produced some pretty stable, immature black metal with some keyboards mixed in at some point - quite trivial really. And then they put out this contraption. It's hard to place, running in doom, hardcore, hard rock, sludge and maybe even prog; bass-driven melodies, prominent cymbals in drums, clear vocals (but mumbled or non-sensible lyrics) and even a cover song by Kauko Röyhkä. The production sounds organic - meaning you can hear all the errors, small slips in timing and an unintentional (I think) piece of intro speech. I don't know what they did in the mixing room, but this is good raw sound. The guitar isn't in the front, it's the combination of bass and drums where the treble has been brought out so that you have cymbals everywhere and the bass drum 'slaps' when kicked.

I don't know, but I'm thinking a psychedelic substance or two may have had something to do with this record seeing, if not the light of day, at least a pale Northern dusk. Bill Hicks was right, again.

Here's the track listing. And here's one on eBay right now - from Czech Republic.