Recently freed from prison (eh, it’s a long story, haven't you seen any of the 15 documentaries?!?) and still controversial Varg Virkernes returns to the Norwegian Black Metal sound he in part help to make (in)famous. Lyrically continues his variations on the Norse mythos themes which are iffy at best. Varg claims that Belus is the “Indo-European” name for Baldur (the birth-death-rebirth deity in Nordic mythology) whereas most cases point to its Greek origins. That aside, this is a rather good return to form.

(1) Pointless intro of clanging a metal ball against the ground.
(((((2)))) Definitive Norwegian riffing, LOTS of repetition & monotony but done well. Classic 2nd wave BM vocals the give it the aura of darkness.
((((3)))) Epic and still repetitive, moody & a wide open sound. Very nice bass & slow & steady buzzing guitars and things get going best when the vocals kick in
(((((4)))))) Odd-metered, fast riffing, VERY nice overlaid guitar tones, distant mid-range rasps & spoken vocals-sometimes mixed with call & response clean vocals. “I travel to Kelio./I travel to the depths of darkness where everything is dead.”
(((((((((5))))))) Whoa! Bare-bones ‘bangin’ Black/Thrash Metal. Sounds like Czech Black Metal band Root with the classic “Burzumic” soloing. HUGELY RECOMMENDED!
(((((6)))))) Fast, cycling tremolo riffing with an aggressive middle section. Nice thick & fairly heavy riffing and very basic drumming.
((((7)))) Drawn out, mid-paced strumming with more semi-distant vocal rasps eventually turning into extremely repetitive, droney guitar bits after 3:25.
((((8))))) Instrumental. Continues from the same riff that ended the last track. Only this time more cyclical and not far from Wolves in the Throne Room.