Part of that brutal scene of early nineties Finnish black and death metal, BELIAL is one of those bands that doesn't get the respect they deserve. From the city of Oulu, Belial's members never really went by evil stage names. Perhaps this was because of their close connection to fellow Finns Impaled Nazarene, all of whose members went by their regular names. In fact, when Belial did eventually break up, some of their members went on to play in Impaled Nazarene.
Forming in early 1991, it was their first demos--especially Gods of the Pit, released in October of that year--that really made them known in the extreme metal underground. Limited to 500 copies, this cassette-only demo featured a raw and brutal black/death style that compares favorably to fellow countrymen Archgoat. In terms of genre, even the members of Belial themselves have acknowledged that it was "basic death metal...with a flirtation in the direction of black metal."
This is their first demo, simply titled Rehearsal. It was released in August of '91
From the Gods of the Pit demo, this is "Voices Beyond"
Their brutal sound caught the ears of a few labels. Belial signed with Lethal Records with the intent of entering the studio to produce actual albums. The result was 1992's Wisdom of Darkness EP. The sound was a refined version of their demo brutality, cleaned up a little with better production values.
"The Hypocrisy of God's Sons" is a killer track from Wisdom of Darkness
This was also the time when the band began unraveling. They kicked out guitarist Jukka Valppu because of differing artistic visions (he then joined black/death band Mythos), but then the entire band went on hiatus because they wanted to do something different musically. However, Lethal Records reminded them of their contractual obligations, so they entered the studio and recorded their one official full-length album of black/death, Never Again.
The music on this album was more brutal black/death madness, but some of the songs leaned in the direction of modern death metal. It's almost as if Blasphemy tried to incorporate Swedish death metal riffs. It's still a brutal underground Finnish release, though.
Off of Never Again, here is "As Above So Below"
After the release of Never Again, the band started moving in a new direction. They began experimenting more with a grunge- and electronica-influenced sound. This resulted in their second major album, 3. Having not heard this album, I cannot comment on it. That said, it is not well-liked and it is not black metal.
As Belial's popularity peaked in 1992-93, the American label Moribund Records sought to capitalize on it and wanted to release the Gods of the Pit demo as an album. The result was Gods of the Pit II (Paragon So Below), an EP with some of the demo's songs in a slightly better sound. This release has been re-issued by Moribund Records several times, including as recently as 2023!
After the release of 3 and Gods II, Belial broke up. As noted above, many of their members went on to play in Impaled Nazarene.
Select Discography:
Rehearsal (demo) (1991)
The Gods of the Pit (demo) (1991)
The Wisdom of Darkness EP (1992)
Never Again (full-length) (1993)
The Gods of the Pit Pt. II (Paragon So Below) EP (1993)
Next time: ABUSIVENESS
