Once in a blood red moon, a band comes along that defies the law!
Glorior Belli swamped out from the temperamental suburbs of Paris in December 2002 as a powerful duo playing "raw" Black Metal. The first demo, "Evil Archaic Order" was released in June 2004 and followed by the first mind-blowing full-length "Ô Lavdate Dominvs" in May 2005.
The art of Glorior Belli is often described as raging and intense, yet the whole thing though has a strangely melodic bent that helps it to stand out from other records, an almost indie-rock quality to the melodies, somehow super catchy while at the same time being suffocatingly black & grim.
In October 2005 Glorior Belli was invited to support the Portuguese Black Metal band "Corpus Christii" with the "Blood Soaked Torment Tour" in Europe. M:A Fog replaced Antares behind the drums in early 2006 and Glorior Belli began the composition of the second full-length album : « Manifesting The Raging Beast », recorded at Hybreed Studios by Andrew Guillotin and released on June 19th 2007 by Southern Lord Records.
Filled with seasick riffs, guttural vocals and surprisingly melodic lines, « Manifesting… » is as darkly beautiful as it is gloom inducing. The French purveyors of Illumination have successfully crafted a Universe of their own.
In summer 2008, Glorior Belli have inked a new deal with Candlelight Records in Europe & North-America. Antares was offered to handle the drums again and get some closure with one last record. The third full-length: "Meet Us At The Southern Sign" was recorded at Hybreed studios with Andrew Guillotin again and released on May 25th in Europe and June 2nd in North-America.
At this point Glorior Belli have garnered a stellar reputation in the heavy music community for mixing indie rock-ish guitar textures and an unusually well-developed sense of melody with the brutal, ominous, doom-laden vibe typical of the genre. "MEET US AT THE SOUTHERN SIGN" refines the full, modern sound the group delivered on its second full-length.
Summer 2009 marked a new turn for Glorior Belli, with two fellows from New York respectively named Jay and Darren (known for their quality work in "Unearthly Trance") joining the band and taking care of the rythm section (bass guitar and drums).
"Glorior Belli may not be the weirdest of the bunch, but FUCK do these guys know how to conjure up the perfect blend of crushing brutality with a well defined sense of off kilter, seasick melodies and an overall approach that simply rocks."
"Depth, depth, and more depth is probably the prevailing sentiment here. There’s lots to digest during this 11-song, 50-minute affair, but the bulk of these songs are palpable, but challenging, an odd counter-balance from one of the scene’s most unconventional bands. Meet Us At the Southern Sign is a total black metal darkhorse for 2009 if there ever was one. Get this."
"As if to cast afresh the gloomy shadow of the Devil’s music over an American Bible Belt that has grown accustomed to it, Glorior Belli have artfully corrupted the Blues with the Black. Their clarion call, Meet Us at the Southern Sign, is as much a journey as it is an invitation, so load up your haversack and hit the dusty road. When you get there, though, just be careful what you sign."
"There is almost a bluesy/ southern feeling to the guitars and drumming at time. I really like the avant tones and clean guitars that mix with dirty/ nasty crunch that in very upfront. Again if there was something called Think mans Black metal this would be it. Glorior belli need to exposed to the world so they can here how creative Black metal can be in 2009."
"It is clear from the start that Meet Us At The Southern Sign is not only going to be pushing the boundaries of black metal but also alter listeners’ pre-conceived notions about the band itself. You see, whereas Manifesting The Raging Beast offered quite a bit of fast paced black metal with a little bit of atmosphere here and there, Meet Us At The Southern Sign has completely immersed itself in grim atmosphere and style."
"Glorior Belli have adopted a dreamy, gloom-inducing feel to the music on “Meet Us At The Southern Sign”, an album that showcases a band not afraid to move outside of the boundaries of their previous material. Featuring a nice variation in tempo from all out blasts to plenty of slow, introspective moments, this new record should propel Glorior Belli forward within metal’s consciousness even more so than its predecessor."
So to my great disappointment I have not yet seen you live. First I had looked so much forward seeing you in Denmark - but unfortunately you had to cancel your part of the tour. (Infestvvs: I hope your heart is better) And then the greatest news at PartySan - some unimportant band had to cancel - and your band was annonced instead. ....but no luck, once again you made a cancel.
So hopefully at some point our paths will actually pass - in my wish can come true.
Keep black metal real - looking forward to the next album from you. Hellcommander Lise
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