FMA Reviews: Be'lakor: Of Breath and Bone (2012)

Originally reviewed here.

Apparently "Be'lakor" is the name of a demon in the Warhammer series. I will admit to not knowing a damn thing about Warhammer, or any other table top/RPG game for that matter. I could not tell you the difference between Warhammer and Dungeons & Dragons. It is just not something I have ever known about. What I do know is heavy metal. And I know what I like.

Be'lakor is a melodeath band in the vein of mid-era Dark Tranquillity. Oddly they are from Australia, which is kind of bizarre for a band of this style. I would have assumed Be'lakor hailed from Sweden or Finland or some other country in that area. Australia is not really known for its melodeath.

I will admit that I have listened to this album a number of times trying to figure out where I was going to go with this review. Unfortunately after listening to it that many times, I can honestly say that nothing really sticks in my mind about it. It is just kind of there. I do not think there is anything about it that is bad, it just exists.

As I have mentioned, Be'lakor is a Dark Tranquillity clone without the personality of Mikael Stanne. If I heard it without knowing what it was, I would think DT replaced Stanne on vocals. The vocals are the big complaint that I have. There is nothing really interesting or dramatic about them. And that is a shame because once in awhile the music is actually pretty decent, if a little bit stale.

The major thing this album did for me was to cause me to dig out my copy of The Gallery by Dark Tranquillity.