Review by Felix on November 17, 2019.

Galaxy is another new name in the scene. The dudes originate from Australia and present their debut. It's an EP and this approach reminds me of the eighties when many labels tested the impact of a new band by releasing an EP. But the format is not the only thing which pays tribute to the golden decade of heavy metal. The music itself also works as a time machine and sends the listener into a period where things like world wide web, mobiles and even refugee crisis were totally unknown. So, follow me into, well, the galaxy of Galaxy.

Names like Agent Steel, Omen or, to drop a more modern name, Portrait must be mentioned when it comes to the influences of the formation. The high pitch of the lead vocalist brings Mercyful Fate to my mind as well. Galaxy combine traditional metal with speed metal elements and the sometimes-massive reverb on the vocals create an Agent Steel-compatible atmosphere. This kind of music is not new, not groundbreaking and not trendy, but it scores with a very important feature: honesty. Dudes who play this style in the 19th year of the new millennium must be fans of their own compositions, anything else is hardly imaginable.

More details give reason for joy. The songs sound fresh, they rely on pretty mature patterns and, if we forget the overlong end of the closer, they avoid boring parts. "Dreaming Out" with its powering double bass drum at the beginning and the precise riffing makes fun, also the guy behind the microphone should not use the highest pitches that much. Either way, the newcomers show that they can pen a number with a length of more than six minutes without the slightest form of repetitiveness. Thumbs up. The lively "Sons of Titan" presses the pedal to metal without neglecting melodic elements in the chorus and with these two numbers the spectrum of the band is more or less completely covered.

Not only because of the nearly flawless production, I can recommend this EP to everyone who has an affinity for sounds that are older than her or his date of birth. Or for people like me have witnessed the pioneering times of metal. Or for people who like Speedclaw's "Beast in the Mist". The listener of Speedclaw's EP enters an old galaxy, but its stars are still sparkling. Maybe Galaxy will soon enrich the firmament of this cosmos with their light.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Felix on June 22, 2025.

I don’t need ambient albums. I ignore them even if the logo of Burzum is written on the cover. So in my very subjective opinion, “Belus” was the first full-length after “Filosofem”. The reasons for the long silence are surely well known and I don’t intend to start another discussion about the personality of Varg, Greifi, Louis or whatever his name is. I just focus on the album itself and the bitter finding is that it falls by the wayside in comparison with “Filosofem” and “Hvis lyset tar oss”. The first halves of these works present in total five songs that belong to the absolutely best tracks one can get in terms of black metal. Here Varg has shown impressively that he is a highly talented and ingenious composer. What an atmosphere, what fantastic guitars. Compared with these monuments, the here presented material appears as ungainly as a hippo’s movements on land. Worse still, no song spreads the slightest touch of magic. “Belus” is nothing but just another black metal album.

Okay, even “just another black metal album”, in this case equipped with a simple yet adequate artwork, is not the worst thing life can present you. As soon as I can forget the musical bewitchment of some of Varg’s former works, I realize that “Belus” has its moments – especially when the output gains intensity. After a long stream of mid-paced sounds, “Sverddans” is a song that introduces a rough edge to the album, but it is much too short to give “Belus” an extreme character. The following “Keliohesten” penetrates more deeply. It turns out to be a strong up-tempo number that relies on effective guitars and a certain hypnotizing force. But generally speaking, Varg uses his former song-writing formula without coming to similarly convincing results than before. A lot of it seems tough, a lot of it is repetitive (but not mesmerizing) and some of it gets stuck in the swampy morass of monotony. Perhaps it is meant to be reflective or lost in thought, but there is also a certain sense of helplessness on the listener’s side.

Probably the album works best on a lonely autumn evening with some rain outside and a flickering candlelight. In any case, the material needs some external support to develop a flavour. The relatively full production leaves little room to breathe, it seems professional but doesn't spread any coldness and the guitars seem a bit mushy to me. This alone puts “Belus” miles behind its (partly) metallic predecessors. But the worst thing is that Burzum has been an extremely polarizing project. Okay, it would be too much to say that “Belus” delivers consensus metal. Nevertheless, the absolute despair, the inner turmoil, the total hopelessness and last but not least the brute determination remain largely absent from the work from 2010. Everything is a bit polished and Varg favours a controlled vocal style, not bad, but less charismatic and memorable than before.

Anyway, the last (and overlong) track is the “Konklusjon” and I guess that it is time to get to it right now. Despite all my criticism, “Belus” is not a bad album. Varg's creativity has obviously suffered in prison in Bergen, but at least he doesn't deliver any half-baked snot here. Maybe some of you enjoy the melancholic feeling of many tracks, but I miss the uncompromising mercilessness Burzum stood for in the mid-nineties. Perhaps the full-length would have been better if the artist had shortened some of the tracks, but this idea did not come to his mind – and so I don’t have the intention to give a higher rating than 7.2.

Rating: 7.2 out of 10

Review by Chris Pratl on August 5, 2018.

Burzum is a band I’ve been a fan of since 1992, and for true black metal music Varg Vikernes is one of the absolute founders of the Norwegian scene, despite many opinions to the contrary. His line of music is one that has seen many changes, both radical and subtle, and all of them have garnered him many fans and criticisms. Some true black metal fans don’t like the progression from Hyis Lyset tar Oss to Filosofem, thinking the more culturally-inspired work not “kult” enough. I suppose, in essence, you either get Burzum or you don’t, and some people cannot adapt to change. 

Belus is the first full-length Burzum release in 11-years, and while the elements of black metal are still intertwined within the music, the cultural aspect is richer than ever. Where once you could put on the Aske EP and drive through a snowstorm at night and try hard to imagine yourself on the frozen roads of a Norwegian hillside, this album digs deeper into the roots of Vikernes’ Norwegian heritage. Originally titled “White God,” the album centers around the mythology of Belus, the deity of light, and while all of the lyrics are in Vikernes’ native tongue, the music surely transcends the limitations therein. 

As opposed to a typical fanboy espousing the merits and wonders of Burzum, I’d rather cast a very neutral light on what I’m hearing in this CD after one initial listen. I’d say the CD might resonate longer after a second or third hearing, but it is certainly interesting. I’ve managed to stay away from most of the initial banter abound on the ‘net about the album, but one or two blurbs I did catch noted disappointment at it not being another Det som Engang Var, which is inherently silly. Vikernes was still a kid when those albums were made, and while those albums are still viable and very good, he is a man nearing 40 and is more concerned these days with his Scandinavian topics as opposed to the satanic. As for the actual vocals on this CD, I must say they are a pleasant surprise. The vocals of his earlier releases were more in tune with someone stepping on tacks and attempting to sing. I can muster through them, but they are a tough go for me some 18-years later. These vocals are a raspy, very “typical” delivery, but a step in the right direction. I’m sure many people might also feel that the change to the typical vocalization of most black metal bands is conforming rather than separating from the masses, but the music and vocals are a nice partnership. 

Vikernes managed all of the instruments on this release as he has with all of the others (save for Samoth’s contribution on the Aske EP), and he is a firm believer in the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” adage. Overall, I think he’s more than competent in the musician area, without question. The Belus music is good metal music, but far from perfect or original. It’s a very nice compliment to the Burzum mythos, albeit a rather obvious one. 

I can listen to this CD again and enjoy it, possibly more than the first go-round, but if you’re anticipating a follow-up to 1993 you might well be disappointed. Fans of Filosofem and Hliðskjálf will really enjoy this release. Fans of the atmospheric metal will also certainly get into this. While not too far from the black metal beginnings, the Belus offering is a audible trip to one man’s tribute to the light.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

(Originally written for http://www.metalpsalter.com)