GLORIOR BELLI · The Great Southern Darkness | CD

CD in jewelcase.

2011 Metal Blade

Background information about 'The Great Southern Darkness'

Sometimes a record comes along that sounds like it was dug out of a Louisiana swamp and then dragged through a Parisian crypt, and "The Great Southern Darkness" is exactly that kind of beast. Glorior Belli had already built a reputation for fusing pitch-black tremolo riffing with the humid, sticky groove of Southern rock, but here on their 2011 full-length they push that strange marriage further than ever. The result is a record that slithers and stomps in equal measure — one minute a razor-wind of second-wave fury, the next a greasy, blues-soaked slide riff that feels like it was written on a porch at midnight with something unpleasant watching from the treeline.

What makes it click is the confidence. The band never treat the Southern influence as a gimmick; they let it breathe inside the black metal framework until the two become inseparable. Tracks like "They Call Me Black Devil" and "Bring Down The Cosmic Scheme" swing with a menace that is as much rock 'n' roll as it is occult, while the title cut and "Horns In My Pathway" close things out with a slow, ceremonial dread that lingers long after the last note fades. It is nasty, atmospheric and weirdly catchy — the sound of a band refusing to pick a lane and sounding all the better for it.

For fans of:
Watain, Secrets of the Moon, Sarke, Vulture Industries

Track listing

1. Dark Gnosis
2. Secret Ride To Rebellion
3. They Call Me Black Devil
4. Negative Incarnate
5. Bring Down The Cosmic Scheme
6. The Great Southern Darkness
7. The Foolhardy Venturer
8. Per Nox Regna
9. The Science Of Shifting
10. Chaos Manifested
11. Horns In My Pathway

Manufacturer: Metal Blade Records GmbH, Friedrichstr. 38, 73033 Göppingen, Germany, Contact: www.metalblade.com