BETHLEHEM · Bethlehem | BLACK LP

Black Vinyl in gatefold sleeve.

Background information about 'Bethlehem'

Self-titled albums usually suggest either a questionable "return to the roots" or a band reinvention of sorts. For brooding black metal beasts, Bethlehem, however, the release of the eponymously titled ‘Bethlehem’ marks the 25th anniversary of the group, which the German group celebrates in their own wayward style.

‘Bethlehem’ is a welcome rejuvenation in every respect. When the line-up that recorded their 2014 release, Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia, fell apart, founding member/mastermind Jürgen Bartsch took the bull by its proverbial horns and matters into his own deviceful hands.

After long-standing drummer Wolz returned to the fold, Bartsch recruited Russian guitarist Karzov (who took on a major role in Bethlehem's songwriting) and a new singer: none other than Onielar from German black metal stalwarts Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult! Onielar’s deranged vocals add to the psychotic morbidity of ‘Bethlehem’, an album that conjures a fresh take on Bethlehem's mid-to-late-90s sound that, says Bartsch, is "anarchic as always”.

Ultimately, ‘Bethlehem’ encompasses everything the progenitors of Dark Metal are about, combining the group’s early harshness with an outrageous catchiness and the experimentalism Bethlehem has always boasted, all crowned with a production that perfectly balances both rawness and power.

Bethlehem's ninth LP is a symphony of sickness in the truest sense of the word!

Track listing

Side A: Suicide
A1. Fickselbomber Panzerplauze
A2. Kalt' Ritt in leicht faltiger Leere
A3. Kynokephale Freuden im Sumpfleben
A4. Die Dunkelheit darbt
A5. Gängel Gängel Gang
Side B: Suicidal
B6. Arg tot frohlockt kein Kind
B7. Verderbnisheilung in sterbend' Mahr
B8. Wahn schmiedet Sarg
B9. Verdammnis straft gezügeltes Aas
B10. Kein Mampf mit Kutzenzangen

Manufacturer: ProMedia GmbH, Im Gartenfeld 1, 54516 Flußbach, Germany, Contact: prophecy.de