Belphegor – Bondage Goat Zombie

A very mediocre reissue of a very good album. BGZ was recorded and released during a very productive decade for the band - six full-length albums in ten years. Of course, it can be called somewhat typical of the band, but if you like the general message of Belphegor, then this album contains exactly everything that you buy albums from this band for. The release is for a fan audience that does not want to hear anything else, from a band that, by and large, is not able to offer anything else under this name to this audience. But Belphegor does his craft perfectly.

The first thing to start with is the sound. No additional work was done on the sound for this reissue, judging by the absence of separate marks in the press release, so it should be the same as on the vinyls in the year of release. At the same time, the sound on this vinyl is quite weak, it is compressed, flat and lifeless. In the original CD version there was DR 03, for the vinyl of the first press DR 11. According to my personal feelings, the sound on this vinyl is like on CD. So there was no miracle, this vinyl is absolutely dead in Direct mode, it is absolutely dead through the application of various settings through the amplifier. I even tried to increase the downforce of the needle... but these are extreme experiments that have no real benefit. Overall, disappointment and misunderstanding. The peak of the vinyl industry in recent years is not yet a reason to release outright garbage on behalf of the label, which positions itself almost No. 1 in the world, and on behalf of the band, which most likely just once signed a contract with the rogues from Nuclear Blast.

As for the design and print quality, everything is quite primitive here, the most fail is a black-and-white insert. For the disc, the booklet is colored and illustrated, for vinyl, the insert is completely discolored and nothing but lyrics is used in it. Vinyl looks great, it's smooth and plays perfectly clean, but at the same time it's worth noting that it's very light (only 130 grams). As a result, in my collection there are all the reissues of Belphegor after 2020 from Nuclear Blast, in general, they are made normally and acceptably, but the way the reissue is prepared is nothing but a sloppy job... It's hard to say how long this vinyl will remain in my collection, but if you are in doubt about buying, then it's better to ignore this press and spend on something more worthy.

It is strictly not recommended!

It sounds awesome!! the vinyl itself looks cool too! This is the first album without Sigurd, & Helmuth & Serpenth did a great job.