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Into the Woods of Belial (1991)
Thou Shalt Suffer’s 1991 demo Into the Woods of Belial is a chaotic maelstrom of nightmarish death metal. From the whirlwind of dissonant, atonal tremolo riffs and blast beats to the slower sections and horror-inspired keyboards, this is one of the most hellish recordings to ever emerge from Norway. The production is raw and murky, which adds to the suffocating atmosphere.
The vocals are possessed shrieks drenched in reverb that echo with pure dripping evil. At times the instruments seem to just create a cacophony of infernal sounds, kind of jarring to the senses and difficult to follow. In a more conventional death metal setting, the slower moments might offer some relief, but here they’re equally as oppressive. The eerie keyboards don’t blend in smoothly, and that clash actually enhances the unsettling, disorienting vibe. It feels like horror soundtrack fragments are bleeding into the music at the wrong moment, in a way that’s almost intentionally disruptive. That tension makes everything more deranged.
This goes even farther than the most aggressive moments from the Old Funeral and Amputation demos and puts Darkthrone's so-called 'horror death metal' to shame. None come close to the pitch-black atmosphere created here. Into the Woods of Belial is harsh and almost surreal, definitely darker than most of their peers at the time. This is one of the best things that these guys ever made, right next to Wrath of the Tyrant.
The vocals are possessed shrieks drenched in reverb that echo with pure dripping evil. At times the instruments seem to just create a cacophony of infernal sounds, kind of jarring to the senses and difficult to follow. In a more conventional death metal setting, the slower moments might offer some relief, but here they’re equally as oppressive. The eerie keyboards don’t blend in smoothly, and that clash actually enhances the unsettling, disorienting vibe. It feels like horror soundtrack fragments are bleeding into the music at the wrong moment, in a way that’s almost intentionally disruptive. That tension makes everything more deranged.
This goes even farther than the most aggressive moments from the Old Funeral and Amputation demos and puts Darkthrone's so-called 'horror death metal' to shame. None come close to the pitch-black atmosphere created here. Into the Woods of Belial is harsh and almost surreal, definitely darker than most of their peers at the time. This is one of the best things that these guys ever made, right next to Wrath of the Tyrant.
(30 May 2025)
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