Be’lakor – Of Breath And Bone

Be’lakor is a dark melodic death metal band, taking their name from a Warhammer character. They had their first release in 2007 and since then they quickly came to be regarded as one of Australia’s most promising and creative metal acts. Their new album “Of Breath and Bone” is the third in line, a heavy production with the blessings of Jens Bogren (Paradise Lost, Opeth) making this release really promising.

The style of the band doesn’t change. There is some progression and improvement from the previous album “Stone’s Reach”, but the basic genre characteristics are there; melodic songs with lots of leads, the growl vocals from George Kosmas, spike riffs, and long songs of 6-8 minutes, that give the band’s signature since their first album. The front cover art is interesting; it’s actually a painting, and it linked well with the stories told in many of the lyrics on the new album.

A grand opening of this album is made with “Abeyance”, a really powerful and complex song. It lasts nearly 8 minutes and provides enough time to make a passage for the different riffs that keep coming up one after the other, along with the performance of a mournful bass line that deepens the song. The variety of the riffs seems to be the band’s policy, since no one stays long enough to become familiar, which is not bad at all because they blend perfectly with the melody of the songs making them faster, more aggressive, but in the same time melodic. The songs in this album have folk- influenced guitar melodies that I enjoy listening to, like in “Remnants”, along with the variety of complex riffs. “To Stir The Sea”, an instrumental track, breaks the action of the album with flute-sounding keyboards and an acoustic guitar, lasting a minute and a half, picking up the pace in “In Parting”, a drawn story of irretrievable loss, changing into a heavier and darker atmosphere until 4:50, where it calms for a while before rushing to its tragic ending. The album finishes with “By Moon and Star”, a cinematic song with a beautiful nostalgic melody repeating between the riffs and brutal vocals.

“Of Breath and Bone” is not an album to be noted for his originality, but will undoubtedly cause the same stir as its predecessor, as it’s a good sample of how melodic death metal should be.