Not only do the French have a real talent for delivering quality black metal, but they always manage to make it interesting. Just have a think about the strength in depth in the world of French BM for a moment. Blut Aus Nord, Deathspell Omega, Temple of Baal. All are excellent bands, and all completely different. Glorior Belli too, with their interesting fusion of black metal with stoner/sludge, take pride of place upon that list, and despite a mixed reaction to their last couple of albums, I certainly was not going to pass up the chance to get my grubby little mitts on this one.
The bluesy, sludgy riff that makes up slow burning opener ‘Dark Gnosis’ utterly confounds expectations of a band whose output is predominately black metal, but the overall effect of that jarring guitar and rasped vocal still manages to unsettle in the way good black metal should. Things move swiftly on however as we join the ‘Secret Ride to Rebellion’. Here the pace picks up significantly as we are subjected to a severe bludgeoning with high quality blackened death. The drums vary between metronomic, ritualistic skin annihilation, to some surprisingly nuanced fills in a very natural and organic manner. The two styles meet beautifully on the insanely catchy ‘They Call Me Black Devil’, where the riffs and the vocals meet in some bizarre alternative universe where Kyuss have reformed with Erik Danielsson singing. It’s a brilliant and beguiling mix that works far better than you would expect.
It’s both pleasing and yet unsettling at the same time as to how easily Glorior Belli manage to switch between styles. You can be fine tuning your mood to the modern black metal assault of ‘Negative Incarnate’ one minute, finding yourself getting in touch with your inner nihilist, before you become distracted by a blues rock guitar solo, or the quite superb title track, with its slow southern vibe which migrates into a snarling black beast. The vocals are largely unremarkable, however they manage to stay just the right side of the tracks as on occasion you can sense a dangerous slip into bland shouty metalcore territory. Musically though, Glorior Belli are a very bloody talented bunch. There are times when things just sound like complete fucking chaos, but if you take a moment and listen closer, there is a very precise and measured structure.
Glorior Belli seem to split opinion like Marmite. Trve black metal fans seem not to want to touch them with an electrified barge pole, and I can see why in a sense. This isn’t really black metal at all, just a distant cousin. What makes Glorior Belli stand out from the crowd is exactly the same thing that seems to alienate them from that same crowd, and that is their willingness to experiment with different styles. ‘The Great Southern Darkness’ is very original, brilliantly performed and yet somehow I get the feeling it will be largely overlooked. Too rock for the metal crowd & too metal for the rock crowd. If everyone can just put their genre prejudices away for an hour or so though and give this album a try, I think they are going to be pleasantly surprised.
http://www.myspace.com/gloriorbelli
Lee Kimber
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