Be’lakor – Vessels

Be’lakor seems to find joy in taking melodic death metal in a challenging direction. I’m not referring to technical ability, either; their songwriting mechanics are more emotionally detailed than the Black Dahlia Murders who all linger creepily around At The Gates and others. It is relieving that Be’lakor willingly avoids the artistic pitfalls of melodic death metal altogether, and thus, they’ve been able to map out their own oasis within a creative wasteland. “Vessels” takes the torch from “Of Breath and Bone” and runs further into the fog of what has become Be’lakor’s rich and introspective style. “Vessels” invokes a journey of magic and self-discovery amid isolation and tragedy, far from the juvenile, insipid nonsense that usually takes on this musical blueprint.