Originally released by Lethal Records (1993), this is a reissue by the German label Galgenstrang Produktionen with completely new artwork.
When I first heard of this band, I realised that their material was going to be interesting, and I listened to this album.
I was shocked, this was much more better than I realised: The fast and brutal guitar riffs, the thick bass sound, the powerful drum attacks, the strange yet impressive vocals and the usage of keyboards, they were all creepy and perfect. This is nothing like you have heard before, this is a good mix of dynamic song structure of death metal, and the dark, hellish feeling of black metal. The songs are all nice, especially the keyboard parts made this album more interesting.
First of all, "Firestorm" is an interesting way to start an album. When you listen to this synth/keyboard part, you become confused, but with the blast of the riffs and vocals at 1:20, you wake up and realize where you are, with pain, but a pain that you would like. Perfect guitar riffs and blast beats make your mind blow, with the inhuman vocals. The song "As Above So Below" starts with another nice guitar riff, and you can feel the "black metal" sense in their song here, especially with the creepy atmosphere made with keyboards that starts at 1:22. Very good song. Another song I recommend is About Love, another perfect song with really nice guitar riffs, lots of techniques are used, so this is not a normal 2-chord song or a fast piece played with tremolo picking only.
As my last word, I recommend this masterpiece to the people that wants to headbang along with death metal structure with black metal feeling.
The first full-length release from Belial is their (no pun intended here) swan song, as it's not only their best material to date, but it's the last album in which Belial played Black/Death Metal. This album, in a word, is amazing! Belial mixes their heavy layered style of Black/Death Metal with doses of Thrash, 70's Prog Rock, and NWOBHM sounds, to form one of the most enjoyable albums ever. The opening intro is so eerie, you can almost feel your skin crawling as the beat drones on. But, before you can recover from that, "Firestorm" kicks in like a deranged maniac with an axe and proceeds to slice your head clean from your shoulders. The use of keyboards on this album is near perfect, as there's just enough passages on here to help you unwind before the mayhem kicks in again. With song titles like "About Love," "On You" and "Clouds," this may not seem very Death Metal-ish to the uninitiated. Don't be fooled though, this is a monster of an album. Besides the ultra catchiness of the music (trust me, these songs will be playing in your head for days after you hear them), the vocals really stand out. I don't know what demon possessed Jarno Koskinen during the recording of this album, but he sounds downright sadistic. For anyone who has heard prior Belial releases, they know the vocals are extremely brutal. However, they are even more intense on Never Again. Stand out tracks include "Firestorm," "The Red One," "About Love" and "Pain-Flood." A truly memorable release, it's a shame Belial went the way of Goth rock after this.
As with other Belial releases, this one is extremely rare. I haven't seen it for sale in any distro in years, so if you can find it in any format, pick it up immediately.
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