Grand Belial's Key ‎"Mocking The Philanthropist" CD

Digipack version of their debut album clocking in at 66:06 minutes.
Comes with a 20 page booklet printed in gold ink from the Vatican's ceiling.
Guaranteed to grant you a ticket directly to heaven.

Grand Belial's Key (GBK from now on) are a black metal band from Virginia. This is their debut album which was released originally on the now defunct Wood-Nymph Records back in 1997. GBK has a unique sound for an American black metal band. They mix black metal, doom, and traditional metal in a molten cocktail of blasphemy.
This album has a very dark, occult feel to it. This has a lot to do with the very analog recording quality, everything sounds natural and full of tone and character. The guitar work is melodic and dark, the lead work is very tastefully done. The music varies from slow to mid paced, there's only one song that's really fast on here and that's 'In Rapture by the Fenrir Moon'.
GBK draws influences from bands such as, Mercyful Fate, Absurd, Bathory, Candlemass, and Venom. The drumming, provided by The Black Lourde of Crucifixion (what a name!) is good, there are some mistakes that made it to the finished product. Specifically, some stick clicks and rim shots can be heard in the songs. I know that a lot of people say he is very sloppy and not that great but I think he does the job well.
Lyrically is where GBK takes some influence from a band like Profanatica. The lyrics have plenty of perversion mixed in with the usual blasphemous stuff. They are written well and are sure to offend some people (pussies). The vocals are a standard black metal rasp that's drowned in echo, although there is some spoken word and chanting going on.
This is a great introduction to GBK and a solid piece of blasphemous black metal. The later releases, mainly Judeobeast Assassination and Kosherat are better, but still you cannot go wrong with this album.

Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...