Belnejoum are a band from the United States that plays a very symphonic form of black metal and this is a review of their 2025 album "Dark Tales Of Zarathustra" which will be released in April by Antiq.
Night sounds start off the album along with some symphonic elements a few seconds later which also mixes in with the heavier sections of the songs at times. When the music speeds up a great amount of tremolo picking and blast beats can also be heard and some of the tracks are also very long and epic in length.
Throughout the recording you can also hear a good mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts while the riffs also add in a lot of melody. All of the musical instruments also have a very powerful sound to them along with the vocals being mostly grim sounding black metal screams, choirs and operatic female vocals can also be heard at times.
When guitar solos and leads are utilized they are also done in a very melodic style along with the music also adding in elements of classical and orchestral music. Oriental and strings instruments are also used quite a bit throughout the recording, death metal growls are also added on some of the tracks and they also add in a few instrumentals as well as a couple of songs also adding in a small amount of spoken words. The production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover the story of Zarathustra's corruption and insanity.
In my opinion Belnejoum are a very great sounding symphonic black metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Prophet Of Desolation" "On Aeshma's Wings" and "Upon the Mortal Blight". 8/5 out of 10.
