Belligerence Liturgies Of The Vile Ones Review
Belligerence
Liturgies of the Vile Ones
Lycanthropic Chants
2026
Berlin Germany’s Belligerence are somewhat of a diamond in the rough of good ol’ Deutschland. Germany certainly has its death metal, from days gone by and the present, you just don't hear much about them save for the bigger names, and that's a shame. Since the early 90’s they have had a vibrant and skilled scene. I mean, anyone who knows their stuff has certainly heard of such luminaries as Atrocity, Morgoth, Debauchery, Defeated Sanity, and Dehuman Reign. Now, add Belligerence to that list, because they are coming out of the gate swinging with the five-song sophomore EP Liturgies of the Vile Ones.
Firstly, upon listening, I think this quartet of sickos (who began in 2022) pull from several different subsets but are undeniably brutal death metal. It's a more modern-meets-old-school approach that showcases technicality, a propensity for deep grooves, and sheer brutish pummeling intensity and speed. The songs here also benefit from a crystal-clear production while sounding organic and without the typical template that befalls most stuff like this. No VST amp sims, overly triggered and sampled drums that sound like a typewriter, and compressed vocals. Everything here sounds fairly live and with real amps and drums. I might be wrong in that estimation, but if I am, I cannot tell. Kudos to LTMF Studios in Berlin for turning the knobs, mixing, and mastering.
I am admittedly unfamiliar with Belligerence, so I started with their debut before I let this assault my ears. Going from that to this new album, I can assuredly say the songs here are more adventurous and developed. The breakneck pace of opener “Self-Mutilation Adjured” is boiling over with time changes, blast beats, riffs that are all over the fretboard, and mountainous chugs atop a mix of low gutturals and some high growls. From there, “The Travesty” opens with feedback under some foreboding and demented minor-key open strings, then snaps your neck into a tech blast section before going back to the chording and relentless double bass work. This track in particular has those dissonant and minor guitar lines reminiscent of a lot of mid-paced blackened death metal. “Reign of Defilement” opens with a thrashy riff picked over more fleet-footed bass drums into a tremolo-picked section only to subside with a breakdown and more open-string minor chords. It would seem these reversed chord voicings are peppered throughout their material, and it gives brief respite before they go to work caving in craniums at the drop of a dime. Definitely a standout cut here. “Vengeful Slaughter” fires next at 1000 mph, blasting chugs and more vocal malice alternating the lows and highs. The technical prowess is on full display here too, as the riffs and drums violently play off one another and the bass shakes things up with a solo break that is played so fast it almost sounds as if it's finger-tapped. A doom-laden mid-paced breakdown closes things out here while also finding time for some shredding, melodious lead work. The closing title track begins with eerie clean guitars amid some creepy synths before shifting into a doomish plod with single held-out chords and some dissonant ringing ones, and then we are back to the brutality. This is the longest song here at just shy of six minutes, but there's so many moving parts and tempo shifts/starts and stops that it feels like you're suffocating under the weight of it all. Perhaps this was what they intended. Whatever the case, it works.
All said and done, Belligerence isn’t doing anything groundbreaking, but the cues they do take are scowling nods and never complete ripoffs of their inspirations. I thoroughly enjoyed this EP and can say with confidence that they are one of the tighter and more song-oriented bands among this particular style of modern brutal death metal. Their name certainly fits them, as this stuff doesn't let up and leaves a properly bitter and misanthropic taste in your mouth. Get this if pissed-off, hateful-sounding atmospheric extremism sounds like a good time…
RIYL- Early Behemoth, Morbid Angel, Cryptopsy, Defeated Sanity, Decapitated
~TB