Belexum - Belexum 12"

The traditional-metal-imagery-meets-Nigerian-film-poster cover art (courtesy of Devin Toye) and skerrick of content provided by the labels’ press release had me highly intrigued by the debut from New York / Canadian death metal group Belexum. The music within well and truly exceeded that anticipation. What an exhilarating display of anguished human emotion and intense musical precision!

Apparently there’s some hardcore/crust credentials from the members, and I can feel a proximity to punk (especially the darkness of Flux/Peni/Amibex), but this isn’t some dumbed down death metal dabbler stuff. There is a vision and imagination here beyond conjuring the energy and assembling some one dimensional junk food riffs. 

Belexum fills the void left by Bay Area’s Succumb whose ‘XXI’ (The Flenser, 2021… will they return?) remains a favourite of mine and also brought to mind Finland’s Aedes debut EP ‘Odious Imprecation’ (Blood Harvest, 2024) in how they pair a dense and bamboozling riff labyrinth with hardcore/crossover energy. A great sounding recording too, there’s a band-in-a-room feel, a collective unhingedness and weird metaphysical air to the extremely disciplined performance like, say, Gorguts, Krallice and Faceless Burial. So sick, we should have ordered more! – Nic