As we get further and further away from the source, the temptation – and this is somewhat understandable – tends to be to view everything ‘old’ with rose tinted spex. Every reunion of any band, no matter how insignificant in the grand scheme of things, becomes ‘long awaited’; Every band over thirty is revered simply because they’ve reached veteran status. The lionisation of the mediocre becomes inevitable.

All of which navel gazing brings us to Sweden’s Lord Belial; The trio is back, thirty two years after their first demo tape saw the light of day and three years since their universally-acclaimed ‘comeback’ album Rapture. I first heard the band on a Plastic Head compilation called Blackend back in the nineties, and to be honest with you, I didn’t think they were much cop, being part of a tidal wave of (so I thought) Emperor wannabes. All sturm and no drang, I consigned them to the ‘hopeless posers’ file and went about my business.

More fool me. Because here we are in 2025 and I’m bound to say,  finding Lord Belial in very good shape indeed. You’ll probably already have had your whistle whetted by first single Ipse Venit, but that track only gives warning in small part of the relentless, remorseless brilliance awaiting you on new full-length Unholy Trinity. The album simply doesn’t let up, giving an absolute masterclass of extreme metal built around the inhuman drumming of Micke Backlin that simply refuses to back down. Standout track The Whore is, in real terms, ridiculous; unbelievable drumming forms the bedrock of the song, but over the top of this howling metalstorm Thomas Backelin and Niclas Pepa Green weave uber melodic guitar lines that shouldn’t work together but absolutely do. Dissection is a name that’s often mentioned in the same breath as Lord Belial and here it’s a comparison that is absolutely valid.  The Excellent The Great Void adds further evidence if required.

Listeners of a more sensitive bent looking for an easy listening experience are strongly advised to stay away, but, for the rest of you, this is a pretty essential record to add to your 2025 collections. Scornful Vengeance, The Whore and The Great Void are all best in show-worthy entrants, but the rest of the material isn’t that far behind. Never ending purgatory has rarely sounded so good.

Unholy Trinity releases on June 27th.