Review by Stephen Pedicino
Bondage Goat Zombie, a title fitting for a film directed by the esteemed Rob Zombie, is the latest piece of artistic expression from Austria’s Belphegor. A band not shy about their satanically blasphemous views, they have proudly spewed forth another birth from the womb of ruthless perversion. The bloodless, yet baneful artwork features a being with female legs, a skeletal torso, gasmask, vacuum hose, and goat horns (of course). I’m sure it makes sense to someone…..but wait….the cross around the creature’s neck……. ISN’T inverted! Wow! Either Belphegor screwed up or they thought it would be a little too cliché to have another of the ubiquitous upside down crosses on their cover. Regardless, it’s not exactly something the late Bob Ross would have envisioned.
We start off with a title track. Church bells and mutant groans creepily creep in before the blastbeats and black-metalish guitars explode. Clearly, Belphegor ate their chunky soup and Wheaties before recording this album. Its raw power melded welded to painful and coarse vocals. Some melody can be found within the chorus, but the majority is pure SATAN-POWERED-CARNAGE!!
“Stigma Diabolicum” follows with a more Gothenburg death metal sound. It slows thing down a bit and gives your head something more to bang to. With that said, it’d nearly be impossible to find something NOT slower than the opener of the record. “Armageddon’s Raid” has an extraneous clean guitar that shows the soft, cuddlier side to these Austrian beasts. Don’t worry though. Ridiculously fast drumming and infernal riffs forego what would be a “gentle song” after a good 25 seconds. Not much variation ensues beyond that.
“Justine: Soaked in Blood” reflects better imagination and song-writing than the preceding tracks. Instead of using one primary rhythm, the song utilizes tempo changes and better harmony in my opinion. It still hammers, but has a more developed and mournful feel to it. Impressive track all around.
After the boring but humorously straightforward, “Sexdictator Lucifer,” we’re treated to a carbon copy of the first track off the record. I won’t mention the title because it’s so indistinguishable that I must dub it “Bondage Goat Zombie – Resodomized.” Predictable blastbeats and depreciated tremolo are let to run wild here as well as on a decent chunk of the record. One of my main problems with this record is the super-sized quantity of tremolo and arpeggio style guitars.
I’ve heard some loosely compare Belphegor’s sound to that of Behemoth’s. I prefer the latter, but there is a quality resemblance in “Chronicles of Crime.” Technicality and breaks are probably the two standouts here. It’s my favorite song and beams with the substantial talent of each member. Parts of it remind me of Behemoth’s “At the Left Hand Ov God.” Well done Belphegor!
That’s pretty much the climax of Bondage Goat Zombie. The last two tracks have an unexpected doom feel to them…imagine a slightly heavier Anathema(before they changed) and add some bondage-flavored lyrics. There ya’ go!
Ever so appropriately, the record ends with the sound of a screaming woman being whipped and lashed. Glad to see Belphegor include a little something for the kiddies!
I’m not the biggest Belphegor aficionado but from what I’ve heard of them prior I can’t see any real change or evolution in their music. BGZ has a distinctly black metal production, but everything seems pretty well balanced aside from the nearly silent bass. This will surely quench the raw thirst for evil, but those wishing for variety could find something much more palatable in this sea of darkened metal. Hopefully, Belphegor can manage to sprinkle some change onto their die-hard formula for the next album.