Be'lakor (Belakor) / Of Breath And Bone

"After the release of the magnificent ’Stone’s Reach’ in 2009, Australian Be’lakor could present its progressive tinged melodeath metal live on European soil as well. A gig at noon at Summer Breeze 2010 will always be remembered by the undersigned. Also this year, the Melbourne based five-piece has achieved a slot at this well-known German festival. It is fine to experience that we can notice a constant evolution in Be’lakor’s music, without breaking with the global sound, characteristic at previous albums. Summarizing one could say that they have developed a signature sound, no longer obviously based upon Swedish Vikings Amon Amarth, as showcased on their debut ’The Frail Tide’.

If I mentioned obvious similarities with Amon Amarth, nay even Opeth, when reviewing previous albums, then Be’lakor has widened its musical horizon right now towards a guitar-oriented melodic death metal approach. Particularly guitar accents really leap to the eye during this lump of energetic yet melancholic music. Vocalist George Kosmas does a great job once again with its voluminous yet juicy growls, still a bit akin to those of Novembers Doom’ Paul Kuhr. This is increased by captivating intermezzos with spoken fragments. The lengthy compositions have a delicious finesse, due to thoughtful passages, adding a zest with acoustic guitars and epic arrangements. Yet the general impression remains rather rough. Changes in rhythms and atmosphere happen in a fluent manner. That is why ‘Of Breath And Bone’ has a perfect balance between challenging parts and necessary catchiness. Just like in the past, I cannot spot any specific highlights or flaws and that’s only a pro.

In between the extended epics, going from six to more than nine minutes length, one can find the acoustic fragility of ‘To Stir The Sea’. That moment we can take a deep breathe to recover from the wealthy musical opulence of Be’lakor. The intelligent lyrics about nature, paganism and even Greek mythology are an extra for those who are looking for an extra or like to dig into deeper contents. It might be quite unusual to dig deeper into these subjects for an Australian band, they do it with so much verve that it seems to illustrate their natural habitat. And that is only one segment where Be’lakor stands out. Their instrumental and composing talents seem quite obvious to me. It is only doing justice to the band that ‘Of Breath And Bone’ will be released and distributed by decent label(s). Now they do not need to find their way all by themselves in the labyrinth of current upcoming bands." (Metal.de)