If Lane would let this writer get away with a one sentence review, it would be: Be'lakor are an interesting band from Australia whose 'Stone's Reach' album is every inch an unadulterated yawnfest.

It could end there, but let's be objective and nit pick the merits of the material at hand. Beyond its awesome cover, a rather brilliant choice since it leaves one guessing what kind of music awaits the listener, Be'lakor do melodic, almost progressive metal that's sorta epic spiced with the usual growls. It's actually quite refreshing to hear them turn extreme metal on its head with epic guitar melodies and ugly grunts driving each of the lengthy compositions on the album. The ride begins with the somber instrumentation of 'Venator' whose soothing intro shifts to the harder stuff past a few mintes. Then the song takes its time until the listener's interest has completely evaporated and, horror of horros, you find yourself attending to some mundane task (i.e. taking a dump, washing dishes) as it draws to a forgettabel close. Rather tragic, that.

Matters hardly improve on 'From Scythe to Scepter'. The lyrics are harsh, predictably so, and since you can't understand them, run the risk of becoming redundant. Worse yet, the wondrous arrangments here, equal parts Dark Tranquillity and Opeth minus the jazz improvisation, blur the lines of your average song. These guys have apparenly thrown the verse-chorus-verse-solo-verse rulebook out the window and begat disastrous results. Sad to say, the outcome is spotty at best.

By the time the familiar energy of Gothenburg death metal comes to your attention, the band have ruined half the album with excessive musicianship and you're just begging for a kick ass tune that never arrives. 'Outlive the Hand', 'Sun's Delusion', and 'Husks' have the intelligence and energy to shine a light on this band's potential, yet it's all undone when matters drag forever. Even worse, the beautiful guitar play eventually becomes recycled and you can no longer tell one song apart from another. In a rare act of mercy, 'Aspect' provides the hypnotic overture for the 10 minute album closer 'Countless Skies' where Be'lakor cram all their suppresed talent in a snore-inducing finale. A beautiful album wrapped in gloom, 'Stone's Reach' disappoints and leaves the band with the difficult choice of making their third effort a redemptive masterpiece or perish. Such are the cruel laws of uncompromised music.

Rating: 6 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Miguel Miranda
10/04/2009 15:36