Single Slam – Apophis – Black Dragon by Belphegor (Totenritual)

Austrian blackened death metal band, Belphegor, have released a new single called Apophis-Black Dragon. Apophis comes from Belphegor’s new album, Totenritual, which is due out on the  15th of September via Nuclear Blast Records.

Formed in 1991 under the name Betrayer, the band became Belphegor in 1993 and are named after one of the seven princes of Hell. They have released 10 studio albums so far with Totenritual due to be their 11th. Belphegor are Helmuth Lehner, who is the last remaining founder after the departure of other founders Max, Sigurd and Chris. He looks after guitars and vocals. He is joined by Serpenth who is the bassist and backing vocalist and by Simon “BloodHammer” Schilling who is the drummer.

Apophis is 6 minutes and 12 seconds long. It kicks straight off with quick, booming drums and a higher pitched guitar line. This builds for a while before a descending lead ends with a deathly roar of “Apophis”. The vocals are powerful, heavy and very dark, roared out in drawn out, demonic ferocity. They start with truly evil sounding short bursts separated by dark sounding bass, thunderous drums and amazingly atmospheric guitars.

We move into a slower section with a great riff that ends with backing from a bell. It is separated by some massively distorted guitar chugs and crunching drums. This leads into a few seconds of gentle melody before the devil raises it’s head again. The vocals turn to a desperate, dark chant style. The backing riffs are brutal and the drumming is perfectly timed and immensely fast.

Throughout the whole track we move through different sections that all showcase the darkest of black metal. Terrifying vocals are supported expertly by vision inducing riffs and drums that seem to forewarn of some impending doom. More creativity is added through some truly remarkable guitar lines and melodies. The addition of bells at points add even more darkness. All the while the drums either move at a pace that shouldn’t be possible or bang out a vicious rhythm. It is a remarkable song.

Apophis is brilliant. Jaw droppingly dark and terribly beautiful at the same time. It is a brilliant example of atmospheric black metal and is up there with the best songs I have heard so far this year. I cannot wait for this album. You have to hear this.

Check out Apophis for yourself here. You can preorder Totenritual from Nuclear Blast here. You can also get Totenritual, Apophis and other Belphegor work from the links below. Look up Belphegor on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for more info on them. Be sure to give them a like or follow while you are there.

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