''Conjuring the Dead'' is the tenth studio album by the Austrian

blackened death metal Blackened death metal (also known as black death metal) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal that fuses elements of black metal and death metal. The genre emerged in early 1990s when black metal bands began incorporating elements of death me ...

band

Belphegor In Christian demonology, Belphegor (or Beelphegor, he, בַּעַל-פְּעוֹר ''Báʿal-pəʿór'' - Lord of the Gap) is a demon. In later Kabbalah Belphegor is a demon who helps people make discoveries. He seduces people by suggesting to ...

. It was released on 5 August 2014 through

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...

.
The album was recorded by

Erik Rutan Erik Rutan (born June 10, 1971) is an American heavy metal musician and producer from New Jersey. He is the guitarist and lead vocalist of death metal band Hate Eternal and lead guitarist for Cannibal Corpse, who he fully joined in 2021 after ...

at Mana Recording Studios in the United States. The album was preceded by the digital download single, "Gasmask Terror", which was released on 1 July 2014. Earlier, on 25 June, a lyric video for the same song was released. A music video was shot for the title track, which was directed by Walter Fanninger. The album features cover art by

Septicflesh Septicflesh (formerly known as Septic Flesh) are a Greek death metal band from Athens, founded in 1990. History Septicflesh were formed in Athens in March 1990 by Sotiris Vayenas (guitar), Spiros Antoniou (bass and vocals), and Christos Ant ...

bassist Seth Siro Anton.

Track listing

All arrangements by Helmuth Lehner.

Critical reception

After its release, ''Conjuring the Dead'' received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. Dave Schalek of

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...

said " ..a densely heavy album with a bludgeoning production courtesy of Erik Rutan, and chock full of excellent songwriting and musicianship. Although fast with plenty of blastbeats, Conjuring The Dead is at its best when Belphegor slow things down to a mid-paced tempo with catchy riffs and deliver an epic sweep to the music." Sammy O'hagar of MetalSucks noted that "Everything is in perfect balance, which is both exhilarating and dangerous. Conjuring the Dead is the ideal snapshot of blackened death metal. It weaves the two genres together seamlessly, then pulls them both apart so each can shine then wonderfully segue back into each other. The blackened parts display a relentless near-grindcore ferocity." Tony Vilgotsky of Russian metal magazine ''Dark City'' rated this album with five out of five stars. He recommended the record "to anyone who respects genuine extreme metal and true heaviness."DarkCity № 82'2014

Personnel

"Gasmask Terror"

"Gasmask Terror" is the second single by

. It was released on 1 July 2014 by

Track listing

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control Belphegor albums 2014 albums Nuclear Blast albums Albums with cover art by Spiros Antoniou German-language albums