Date: 2020
Total Τime: 1:05:05
Label: Avantgarde Music
BELTEZ is a German Black Metal band from Cologne, Germany that plays old school Black Metal, but with some differences and some enrichments to it.
On the one hand, the Germans take you to the age of 90’s and more specifically to the second phase of Norwegian Black Metal, giving you this icy, naked, flat feeling that existed in the genre. On the other hand, it lacks this chaotic feeling that one would encounter in a band like EMPEROR, or some other characteristic of the genre. Instead, “A gray chill and a whisper” has a beginning, a middle and an end, like all the tracks in it, whether it is seven minutes (you will not find smaller ones) or fourteen minutes (!).
Do not expect a single ray of sunlight here. Devilish rhythms, a satanic atmosphere that hovers over the listener constantly, aggressive blastbeats, rhythmic riffs, form the basis of this adventure: an icy, “scratched”, but at the same time modern tone, sometimes looking to the left, to the past of the idiom, and some other times to the right, towards the present or the future. Even there, however, it does not seem to have managed to break away completely from the past. Let’s make it clear though, do not expect to hear an album reminiscent of one of the DARKTHRONE of old here. This is because while the music looks heavily to the past as we said, the production is quite modern and clean. One could say that with a dirty production, we could have the classic old school record of the genre. The Germans have produced a complex record here (beginning of “A Taste of Utter Extinction”), melodic fast riffs (“The City Lies in Utter Silence”), sticky mid tempo riffs (“Black Banners”) and generally whatever your soul longs for. In fact, in almost all of the pieces, we have alternations of rhythms, a collage of situations that, although overall it is quite a long effort, it manages not to tire the listener.
The monotony required of the genre is reflected in the music as it should be, the melody manages to be as cold as a listener of the genre would like, although BELTEZ has a rather perverted view of what melody is (and this is more of a compliment). Technically, the music is not that difficult, except of the fact that each piece is essentially two pieces in one and the instruments do what they need to do.
If you are a Black Metal fan, we do not even need to mention that you should not fail to check this effort here. If you do not listen to Black Metal, if you have been away from the idiom for a while for any reason, but you enjoy extreme music in general, this is the record you should listen to. BELTEZ, combining the freezing atmosphere of the Norwegian scene, but without missing the melody, or the several alternations of rhythms within their tracks, offer the ideal combination of icy, dark, heavy, but also atmospheric music.
No expectations for a Sun to shine, an Image of the Sun just a fading Memory. Only a dim remembrance of how things once had been…
Rating: 7/10
Editor: Nikos Vlachos
Related Link: BELTEZ – Official Page
