BELIAL
Never Again (Galaxy Vinyl)

The debut album from Belial on Austria's Lethal Records is, without question, one of the heaviest Black/Death Metal albums I have ever heard. It starts off with a creepy little intro, then smashes into a re-recorded version of, in my opinion, Belial's signature track, "The Invocation." This version is much heavier and darker then the one that appeared on their "Gods of the Pit" demo, as Belial added more spoken word interludes and hoarse whispering to the mix. After this, Belial rips through 20 minutes of some of the most intense music in the history of the underground scene. This album just rages along at a breakneck pace, and doesn't let up fast enough for you to catch your breath. My only small complaint is the length of this album, but that is minor in comparison to what Belial does with the little time they have here.
On a side note, this release featured 2 different covers for some reason. The original (which I have, and which is the rarer of the 2) was a rather cheap looking, almost xerox'ed scene of a mountain landscape in the woods, with a black moon hovering in the sky, in black and white, with some blue here and there, and the band's logo in blue in the upper left hand corner, and the album title in the lower right hand corner. The second cover was the hand holding whatever that is in the photo, with the album title in white in the upper right hand corner, and the band logo in red in the lower right hand corner. I have no idea why this was done, other then perhaps only a limited number of copies had the original artwork.
This album has been long out of print, thanks to the thieving bastards that ran Lethal Records. However, I have seen 1 or 2 distros still carrying it (with the second cover artwork), and I'm sure there are a few traders out there with it as well. In any case, pick this up at all costs if you can.

 

Founded in 1991, Belial only lived a short career but burned with a bright flame. The band opened the gates to success – and hell – right from the start with their demo tape and mini-album “Wisdom of Darkness” (1992). Belial's debut full length album “Never Again” (1993) was well received by fans and even had some commercial success cementing their name as one of the cruelest and darkest-sounding Finnish death metal band of their time.