Review by Jack on November 6, 2001.

My initial impressions of Belphegor were ones of extreme skepticism and much eyebrow raising. The black/death ‘we hate Jesus and sodomise God’s children’ bands have pretty much drenched that to the bone, leaving other new outfits very little to nibble upon. Belphegor is one such band. Playing an overtly familiar conjoining formula of black speed and death metal riffs and solos, “Necrodaemon Terrosathan” isn’t exactly worth salivating at the mouth for. But if you’re the type who can’t abide change to the black/death genre, that outfits like Myrskog bring, then Belphegor are your agents of the anti-Christ.

Sporting axes, brandishing clubs and garnished in ammo belts and tight black leather adornments, originality clearly is not in the forefront of the lads from Belphegor minds. Instead consistency and conformity would be; consistency with the music; and conformity to dress like twits. Being the heathens that Belphegor are, they come ripe with the most anticipated song titles ever for this genre; ‘Vomit Upon the Cross’ and ‘Cremation of Holiness’ could have easily been lifted from any Cannibal Corpse or early Hypocrisy album. It is cliched trappings like these that make Belphegor difficult to digest from the others...

Belphegor however, are not without merit and remain to be seen as slightly more creative and innovative than some of their genre mates, and “Necrodaemon Terrorsathan” is fortunately lifted by this fabrications. ‘Vomit Upon the Cross’ for instance (despite its stupid title) starts off with a seemingly placid intro of Gregorian monks chanting before launching into full force of blast beat drums and brutal guitar riffing ala Hypocrisy and Morbid Angel. ‘Diabolical Possession’ features some very smooth vocal work that sees either Helmuth or Marius spew forth lyrics like they had spent five years in the Amazon and learned the native language perfectly. With factors like those and other small smatterings on “Necrodaemon Terrorsathan” that really save the album from falling into the average category. Overall...ok.

Bottom Line: “Necrodaemon Terrorsathan” is an ok album, that is summarized by predictable song titles, silly gimmicky attributes with the band members, but also possessing enough surprises to keep in from being relegated to the run-of-the-mill bands in the black/death genre.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Review by Jack on November 6, 2001.

My initial impressions of Belphegor were ones of extreme skepticism and much eyebrow raising. The black/death ‘we hate Jesus and sodomise God’s children’ bands have pretty much drenched that to the bone, leaving other new outfits very little to nibble upon. Belphegor is one such band. Playing an overtly familiar conjoining formula of black speed and death metal riffs and solos, “Necrodaemon Terrosathan” isn’t exactly worth salivating at the mouth for. But if you’re the type who can’t abide change to the black/death genre, that outfits like Myrskog bring, then Belphegor are your agents of the anti-Christ.

Sporting axes, brandishing clubs and garnished in ammo belts and tight black leather adornments, originality clearly is not in the forefront of the lads from Belphegor minds. Instead consistency and conformity would be; consistency with the music; and conformity to dress like twits. Being the heathens that Belphegor are, they come ripe with the most anticipated song titles ever for this genre; ‘Vomit Upon the Cross’ and ‘Cremation of Holiness’ could have easily been lifted from any Cannibal Corpse or early Hypocrisy album. It is cliched trappings like these that make Belphegor difficult to digest from the others...

Belphegor however, are not without merit and remain to be seen as slightly more creative and innovative than some of their genre mates, and “Necrodaemon Terrorsathan” is fortunately lifted by this fabrications. ‘Vomit Upon the Cross’ for instance (despite its stupid title) starts off with a seemingly placid intro of Gregorian monks chanting before launching into full force of blast beat drums and brutal guitar riffing ala Hypocrisy and Morbid Angel. ‘Diabolical Possession’ features some very smooth vocal work that sees either Helmuth or Marius spew forth lyrics like they had spent five years in the Amazon and learned the native language perfectly. With factors like those and other small smatterings on “Necrodaemon Terrorsathan” that really save the album from falling into the average category. Overall...ok.

Bottom Line: “Necrodaemon Terrorsathan” is an ok album, that is summarized by predictable song titles, silly gimmicky attributes with the band members, but also possessing enough surprises to keep in from being relegated to the run-of-the-mill bands in the black/death genre.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Review by Death8699 on June 23, 2019.

This Polish death metal band was founded in 1986, then broke up in 1994. They reunited in 2006 and put together a new onslaught of a release entitled Death Then Nothing. The current members feature Slawomir Maryniewski on vocals, Krzysztof Maryniewski on guitar, Rafał "Ra.V" Karwowski on guitar, Tomasz Solnica on bass and Adam Sierzega on drums.

The music features guitars that are heavily distorted and brutal sounding. Tremolo picked riffs with fast tempos mixed together with some slower parts and the use of synthesizers to augment the eerie music in a few instances. This band spews forth classic death metal with catchy tracks such as the title track and "Blanket of Silence." There aren't that many leads on this release, only on a couple of the songs. Musically speaking, the band displays vintage death metal. There really aren't any releases by this band to compare with except for their debut, which was released in 1993. It's good that they were able to reunite and put together a solid follow-up. 

I really enjoyed the riffs of all different variety. These guys, even though they're veterans now, still know how to concoct death metal that is well played out. The songs are really memorable and innovative. That low end guitar sound is way well displayed and is technical. No matter which song that you choose, all of them are great, with many interesting outputs. Vocal wise there isn't much variety-just low bellowing throat. The drums contain blast beats and plenty of double kick parts. Use of these techniques go well with the guitars. Every song contains at least some fast tempos; there really aren't many parts that are slower paced. 

This production is solid sounding with each instrument mixed in well together. It isn't flat or poorly integrated. You can hear everything pretty clearly. A great job done here. It makes the listener want to hear this release undoubtedly. I am quite impressed that the band managed to choose a producer that did them some extreme justice. The lyrics aren't featured on this release insert. However, it's safe to say that from the song titles, show that they don't have much else to sing about except death. This is of course a grim topic and it's a shame that they don't have their lyrical contents displayed for the public. There are no cover songs on this release. It's just over 32 minutes in length of classic Polish concocted death metal.

In summation, Death Then Nothing is a strong comeback album that contains tracks that are heavy and intriguing. Again, not much variety in the vocal department, but still they managed to fit it well into the music. If you're interested in hearing some fresh death metal with a great production sound, then this release should be owned by all death metal fans.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by JD on October 18, 2011.

Combining many forms of metal into something that is fresh and amazing takes talent, conviction and sheer guts. Many bands out there do it. Some do it to perfection and others turn out some of the worst metal that needs to be killed off. That is the nature of this business... yet it is also this innovation always is what drives the beast forward like no other form of music out there. Elderdawn is one of these bands striving to be noticed.

Spain’s Elderdawn is a band that is made up of many metallic parts that perfectly fit and ends up coming across as being pretty original. Combining some powerful and dark Black Metal with parts of Death while coloured by Melodic Power/Traditional metal shrouded in a veil of a Gothic sort of vibe and having a Progressive overture as well. This band creates a feeling that is one part ominous, two parts powerful and many parts fascinating.

You cannot help hear the complexity of the music, or not notice the ranges of power from one song to the next. 'Passion' is a song that captures the force that this band has. Melodic and brutal yet ingenious. Other songs like the creepy 'My Own Torture' or the brain twisting reality of 'Almost Human' displays a band that has intelligence to back up every spat word. They remind me of this odd spawn of King Diamond, Cradle of Filth and shadings of Entombed feel with the very odd vocals like System Of A Down’s deranged warbler Serj Tankian. Brilliant and weird. System is not a band I have ever liked, but the vocal style seems more suited used here than even with System.

Elderdawn does gives you a wide scope, but it is clearly amazing. It is what metal needs. People who are not scared to go outside of the norm without going off in a ditch and into territory that is never good to even visit. They are amazing, although this CD will not end up being in everyone’s taste. My advice is just give it a listen to Elderdawn... I happen to like it.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 9
Production: 7.5
Originality: 9
Overall: 9

Rating: 8.7 out of 10