Formed in 1992, the foursome dual, Lord Belial set a goal to create music filled with emotion, passion, and energy. Creating a name for themselves, Lord Belial eventually toured with various known acts such as Dismember and Disfear. Also, becoming known for their playing abilities, they were featured on a Bathory tribute compilation.
After two demos, in the year of 1994, Lord Belial set to create the first LP entitled “Kiss the Goat”. After a publishing issue, their first LP was finally released. Featuring well placed production, “Kiss the Goat” shines immediately upon first listen. At about 1 minute into the opening track the bass guitar is fully audible, playing a harmony lead, and thus showcasing a glimpse that Lord Belial knows the art of “riff transition” and “intimate conveyance”.
“Kiss the Goat” eloquently provides varying tempo shifts in every track, complimenting the vocals very tastefully. On “Satan Divine”, the listener will notice the track begins with a mid-tempo double bass pattern that leads directly into a common thrash chug. Slowly gaining an increase in momentum using a bass-snare pattern, the listener is then dropped from 180 bpm down to 75, as the vocalist “Dark” screams “FOREVER DARKNESS, FOREVER HELL”.
The electric guitar work stands out in the area of solid riffing transitions, as mentioned earlier. Always working well with the bass guitar, they create melodic harmonies giving deep mental feeling, so as to convey the emotional despair of each track. Notably on “The Ancient Slumber”, also being one of my favorite tracks, the guitars give a constant melody change-up. As the track progresses, it builds to my favorite part of “Kiss the Goat”. At exactly 2:44 “The Ancient Slumber” places a perfect emotional pressure over my body. Using a major tempo drop coupled with a bass melody, flawless tremolo notes work in conjunction with a fast paced ride pattern. At this moment the world around me disappears and I fall into oblivion. This high last for exactly one minute as the riffs change again. Lord Belial could have kept the sequence of notes the same for the rest of the song and I would have been happy. In my opinion this is where the album falls short. While the compositions are fantastic, they sometimes lose the feeling that gave me the initial high.
Highlights from “Kiss the Goat” do not end there. In many instances, folk elements are included, fitting very well as the harmonies between the electric and bass guitars do. “Into the Frozen Shadows” uses a flute, adding a further backing element of emotion which works perfectly into the following instrumental, “The Art of Dying”. “The Art of Dying” holds powerful emotion with the use of acoustic guitars and a dissonant electric guitar popping in for only a moment in the middle of the track.
Anyone interested in top-notch Black Metal emerging out of the mid 90’s should not pass on this listen. “Kiss the Goat” has some of the best original compositions and is a near flawless record, standing tall amongst the classic BM greats.
