The sky-piling empires of decay which surround us will soon dry of their rot-mounded facade and leave a coarse and sun-bleached legacy behind, stained by caustic elemental forces beyond the desperately clawed and poisonous finale of humanity impending. Here to claw their own grotesque mark of death upon civilization at the near-end of days North Ostrobothnia, Finland-based black metal quartet BELETH’S TRUMPET arrive with a debut full-length album which smacks heartily of their familiar regional sound. Presented just one step beyond the bands primal-intellectual birth ‘Chapel of Bones‘ further develops the insight found within their first demo tape while expanding that vision into a set of seven highly melodious black metal pieces which are fixated in their guitar driven hand yet subtle in atmospheric nuance.

Beleth’s Trumpet formed circa 2023 and had a substantial four song demo tape (‘Demo‘, 2024) readied just a few months into the following year. The style of that tape was not at all difficult to sort out as the guitar driven and generally melodic voice of the group of course relates to the sound of the Finnish underground in the realm of certain releases from Horna and Satanic Warmaster. As was the case when Malignament arrived with a well-formed demo years ago the potential within their work was obvious and despite the music not being wildly ambitious. Though those four pieces weren’t aiming to be outright original in any sense they still struck upon the “right” sound per a raw but not-at-all obfuscated recording. The outline of their work was crystal clear and the performances were beyond suitable for a random black metal demo tape.

A few goat skulls, a handful of torches, plenty of blood, at least one Funeral Mist shirt and numerous jointti later ‘Chapel of Bones‘ reprises those four songs in full arrange alongside three more as they are recreated, extrapolated and arranged that core concept into a well-made and distinctly Finnish black metal full-length. If you are familiar with the legacy of Sargeist and the enduring surges of 90’s inspired black metal from Finland in general you might find ‘Chapel of Bones‘ entirely familiar though I would suggest there is at least some more nuance available to any halfway serious black metal fan. To start I’d take note of the development of “Mass Grave (Of Angels)” and its (earlier) Aethyrick-esque atmospheric development, not only in terms of the riff but the synth-shined warming at its mid-point. The slow-burning stretch of this song and the fascination it resounds with is transformed in a profound but not overly done way beyond its demo counterpart, an entirely appropriate step taken from concept to end result.

Taken piecemeal within a playlist of dissimilar groups Beleth’s Trumpet threaten with a fairly consistent fast pace and a perfectly readable sound yet taken in as a ~42 minute record ‘Chapel of Bones‘ and its insistence on a basal launching speed for their larger melodic riffs means the full listen should begin to feel “samey” or slow to develop by design. This doesn’t so much read as formulaic as it does focused on lining up variations which are consistently relevant to one another on a structural level. That is to say that you’re not going to mistake the mid-paced step of “Clandestine Ritual” verses for the many transformations which occur within the expanse of “Extermination of God’s Dominion” but each song draws a similar course of action and (generally) incurs the same reaction. This is hardly a complaint, moreso a reflection of the tradition and inspiration these folks are sourcing foundation from.

At their best Beleth’s Trumpet show a brilliantly subtle hand for stoic atmosphere alongside a knack for drill-paced rhythm guitar directed melody on this debut album. “Black Light” is my favorite piece of the lot and the best example of both sensibilities intertwining into a surreal and sinister yet flowingly melodious black metal song, it’d been the piece to captivate my attention most often at the very least. It is a galloping anthem, as is majority of force applied here, but the use of humming percussion/synth and fast-scratched pace feels fitting as the peaking high of the ‘Chapel of Bones‘ experience. The band’s relatively even-handed approach to the Finnish black metal style more-or-less won me over with its proficiency (and curation for that matter) first and melodic expression second in terms of living up to what they’d proposed with their demo tape. There is something to be said for delivering above and beyond the potential of a demo recording without removing the character of it and these folks have done well to enhance their original idea up to a notable standard. A moderately high recommendation.

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