Black Metal was for so long the face of extreme metal, out there on the very edges of acceptability and to coin a phrase, 'pushing the creative envelope' to new and dark places. But like all natural phenomena the whirlwind blew itself out and sadly the heydays are gone, the final nail in the coffin being the demise of the late great Emperor. The genre in truth has been splintered and diluted with many claiming to sit firmly in the Black Metal camp but few actually practicing what they preach.

One of the select few who still produce Black Metal in that old school manner are Sweden's own Lord Belial. On the back of their last outing 'Revelations', 'The Black Curse' offers up much the same menu of spiraling riffs, ferocious vocals with a healthy serving of manic aggression. The Lord Belial approach to their music is an ultra simple one, they have found a formula that works for them and they stick to it. To this end 'The Black Curse' achieves I'm sure what it set out to do....be nothing more than simple no nonsense Black Metal, and to that end it scores top marks.

There is however (of course) a but, and that is that 'The Black Curse' while very accomplished in it's execution, the album doesn't take us anywhere we have not been before and does therefore leave you with the feeling being a tad unfulfilled. The bands musical talents are considerable but 'The Black Curse' does have that feeling of a band playing very much within their comfort zone. This all being said for fans of the aforementioned Emperor, Dark Funeral and Dissection 'The Black Curse' will provide a welcome respite from chill winds of progressive Black Metal and delivers true to the roots old fashioned Scandinavian Black Metal....the way it was always supposed to be!