The fiery pit has opened yet again. And by the sheer force of the album cover, you probably already guessed where this is heading. ‘Xactly! Deep down into the rotten flesh of Black Metal Central, brought to you by remnants of the original Black Metal crew of times long gone.
Lord Belial are a finicky band. Emerging in Sweden in the Unholy Year of the Dark Lord 1992, they had an on-and-off relationship with their fanbase. A career haunted by issues and hiatus after hiatus that nonetheless allowed them to produce some 10 full-length records. Rapture, their last confirmed strike, aired back in 2022, after a long wait of some 14 years or so.
Right now, they’re at it again and in one of their active periods, so Unholy Trinity is on the menu. A feisty, down-in-the-pit blend of Black Metal close to Seth and Corpus Diavolis in their approach to devilish blackened fare. A true European endeavor of which we should have more of. Interestingly, being from Scandinavia, they couldn’t resist borrowing a few of the Swedish Death Metal-style solos and riffs (Ipse Venit, Scornful Vengeance) and cheekily injecting more thrashy vibes than usually allowed in the genre.
Unholy Trinity is a densely written affair, usually found on the more virulent ritually based shores of the Black Metal abyss, leading down to the feared circles of hell. A record filled to the brim with ever-present blastbeats, boundless tremolo-fests, and a remarkable knack for melodics. And sometimes, their proficiency even allowed them to inject some groove with truly majestic melodics blended into the fray (In Chaos Transcend).
All of that comes with not one iota of clear voice vocals except for some shouted monologues scattered throughout the tracklist (Antichrist, In Chaos Transcend). In other words, the record’s gritty fare is all delivered in grouchy Black Metal rasps that often appear in virulently executed multilayered form. Quite unsurprisingly so, as they’re talking about an unholy trinity of all things. And often, their approach to ferociously delivered snarls, roars, and rasps was dangerously reminiscent of Panzerchrist. Even if these folks are not of the Black Metal kingdom directly. But their vile ferocity surely qualifies.
Belial is a band with a lot of ungodly zing still left despite their advanced age and the fires of hell fully alight in their bellies after some 33 years of dedicated service to the blackened arts. The production does come at a cost, though. Unholy Trinity drives their wares at you with relentless fury. A ferocious avalanche of all Extreme Metal, delivered all at once. And that means that they bricked their sound almost too much. With the drums and some of the axe work sitting pretty much at the same level in the mix as the vocals. That said, Lord Belial just about averted disaster and didn’t quite lose any instruments in the mix.
Ultimately, “…armageddon is here…”, as the rasper in chief so succinctly put it in Ipse Venit, sums it up nicely. Unholy Trinity is one helluva thunderload of Black Metal with benefits. Lord Belial may well have emerged when their genre of choice was still young. But their unmistakable style of unforgiving Black Metal, together with just enough melodics to avoid scorching their music to a crisp, led to one of the best Extreme Metal pieces of 2025 on this zine to date. This is Black Metal delivered at a level of grime to give the French blackies a headache. How they will be able to beat this here selection of brutal hellish terror, I do not know.
But in the meantime, all acolytes of the Dark Lord in Metal should definitely procure a copy. This is the real thing. Brutal, ferocious, grimily vile and – at the same time – right at the top of where Black Metal actually should be these days. And that’s no easy feat to achieve in these dire times. Now, don those headphones, and let the metal roar at ye.
Recommended.
Ed’s note: The record made it onto our 2025 malevolent list. Congrats! Oh, and they also made an appearance on the 2025 Top 10 Records. Not sure which one is more important, though.1
Record Rating: 8/10 | Label: Hammerheart Records | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 27 June 2025
- That was a joke, by the way.-↩