The Great Southern Darkness

Making further refinements in the art of extreme metal fusion, Glorior Belli continue to push at the boundaries of the genre with their combination of black metal and doom. While there’s typically a gap in pace between the two styles, what binds them together is their emphasis on atmosphere, a commonality the French duo puts to good use on The Great Southern Darkness. Tracks like “The Science of Shifting” bring the two styles together perfectly, opening with a slinky, foreboding riff before exploding into a classic, needling black metal riff that seems to expand the song to almost suffocating proportions. This ability to drift back and forth makes for an album that is able to be relentlessly dark without feeling repetitive, confronting the listener with something new at every crawling twist, and adding a sense of dynamic that both genres often lack on their own. This intersection of bleakness and brooding makes The Great Southern Darkness a (relatively) refreshing album that should have plenty to offer to both doom and black metal fans without alienating either one. – Gregory Heaney