Since their inception in 2002, Glorior Belli have become increasingly lauded as one of the key bands alongside such ominous figures as Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord in making the French black metal scene a serious challenger for that esteemed Norwegian crown of thorns. With only a cursory glance over their previous works, it’s easy to see how they have evolved from a Watain-worshipping prototype into a unit worthy of such acclaim. And so, with such an established reputation, it would have been easy for them to have stuck to their guns and produced another black metal opus of what would no doubt be of earth-shattering quality. But true to black metal’s refusal to allow itself to become stale, staid, or sterile, The Great Southern Darkness pushes the band further into dark, fertile territories, introducing a distinct Southern vibe that gives the dark tunes a cool groove that’s as dense as it is capable of shifting enough air to dry the washing in a particularly heavy monsoon.

Opener ‘Dark Gnosis’ has a slow, chugging, Southern groove with black metal vocals juxtaposed with a disorientating, alarm-like wailing guitar line. ‘Secret Ride To Rebellion’ immediately shifts the album into the high gears with blast beats and rapid-fire tremolo riffing, the song bringing in more of the Southern grooves that permeate ‘They Call Me Black Devil’ and ‘Negative Incarnate’. ‘Bring Down The Cosmic Scheme’ is the blackest of the tracks here, whereas the next track, the title track, is the embodiment of Southern metal, managing even to resemble Down in the vocal delivery and its swampy riffs. Whereas the tracks have so far been predominantly mid-paced, the tempo generally increases for the second half of the album. The black metal elements colour ‘The Foolhardy Venturer’, and chunky, chugging power chords dominate the deep sludge grooves of the instrumental ‘Per Nox Regna’. ‘The Science Of Shifting’ and ‘Chaos Manifested’ move further up the gears, both of them drawing deep from the darker side of metal for their brute force. And with closer ‘Horns In My Path’, the sludgy, Southern vibe returns to the fore, mellow and melancholic in the arpeggiated passages and underscoring the heavy parts with density and a tangible viscosity, perhaps indicating Glorior Belli’s future direction.

This combination of morbid black metal violence and Southern metal influences has formed solid structures that allow Glorior Belli to avoid simplistically leaping from one style directly into another to blatantly boast their musical competence. Instead, they’re blended to the point of sounding natural, an acclaim that makes The Great Southern Darkness more than impressive and an intriguing album that provides not only the Norwegians further cause to keep a more vigilant and watchful eye on this band and the French underground.

1. Dark Gnosis
2. Secret Ride To Rebellion
3. They Call Me Black Devil
4. Negative Incarnate
5. Bring Down The Cosmic Scheme
6. The Great Southern Darkness
7. The Foolhardy Venturer
8. Per Nox Regna
9. The Science Of Shifting
10. Chaos Manifested
11. Horns In My Path

7 out of 10

www.gloriorbelli.com