Bellator
Fluxional (Mcd) 1998 Polar Bear Records
The Belgian band Bellator released this debut through one of the most obscure labels ever (actually from my own hometown). As I understand it, the band are not that proud any more of this release, although I can only wonder why. Because on this release, Bellator offers us a decent dose of up-tempo death-doom that does not sound bad to these ears at all. 'Fluxional' reminds me a bit of the first The Gathering and Amorphis releases, but it does not sound so "early ninties". Bellator wisely chose to hide the keys in the back of the mix, significantly reducing the cheese factor. The music however remains pretty melodic, also due to the fact that generally it is pretty up-tempo. This causes them to often sound more deathish then Doomish. Which is perhaps the only point of "criticism" I can really make; in essence this is death-metal. If Bellator had not started to make more Doomy music after this release, I would have probably passed this band over as being just another run of the mill mid-tempo Death-metal band with some doom-metal tendencies. Other than that I'm actually at a bit of loss what else to say about this release. Take it for what it is, a decent and solid death-doom album with strong death-metal tendencies. It's solid, it's tight, it's got all the characteristics and well… that is about all I can say. It's not world shocking and I could not advice it as a first dip into the death-doom genre, but it's a nice addition for any fan looking to expend beyond the well known names.	1. Sensus Mortalis 2. The Warlord 3. Master of your Soul 4. The Lone Wolf Approx. 21 minutes
Reviewed by: Aldo Quispel
Opaque reveries (Demo) 2000 No Label
The world of the music industry is just not fair! While commercial metal acts like Korn and Limp Bizkit rule the metal charts and gain an enthousiastic audience with their lame music and poor content, other bands like this Belgian doom outfit Bellator have to fight for recognition and for a label deal. This despite their excellent, atmospheric doom in the vein of early The Gathering and even Moonspell ('Irreligious' era). This demo contains five tracks of a high -and consistent- quality. The first track 'A cry to silence' departs with vocalist Andy singing in a low, clear gothic tone. However, after the first minutes, he switches over to an undefinable grunt/scream/whispering voice. All band members do their job with conviction. Especially the keyboards, that add a dreamy, melancholic atmosphere to the heavy doom basis and the excellent guitar solo's from lead guitarist Gunnar, steal the show. The poetic, pessimistic, and even nihilistic lyrics serve as the necessary doom reference point that justifies their desperate, but somehow warm art. This is not icecold, devoid of any hope or sense music in the vein of Skepticism, Thergothon or Esoteric, it rather leaves you behind with a warm feeling of melancholia and tearful sadness. Also check out their excellent website: http://www.bellator.org	1. A Cry To Silence 2. Ascension 3. The Craft Of Heroism 4. Beyond The Glacial Wall 5. The Ultimate Decay Approx. 32 minutes
Reviewed by: Kostas Panagiotou
Note: While Kostas is now a member of Bellator this demo was reviewed by him before he became a member of the band or even had contact with the band.
Iridescence (Demo) 2002 None
Bellator's third demo starts with one of the most doomy samples from a movie ever ("The Prophecy"). As a narrative voice is talking about the second war in heaven, the sample fades seemingly perfectly into the first track. This happens so fluently that at first I thought the band had composed the entire song around the story-line of The Prophecy (although the lyrics would be a bit odd then). However, when I talked to Kostas of the band I learned to my surprise that he, nor anybody else in the band, had any clue to where the sample even came from! Apparently the sound engineer had put the sample in on his own accord. The band liked how it sounded and kept it in. On 'Iridescence' we hear Bellator moving into a more melodic and atmospheric direction. Especially if you compare this demo to their first Mcd. They for sure have come a long way. From mid tempo Death-metal with Doomy bits to Atmospheric Doom-metal, heavy on the keyboards. Fortunately, the album has a lot of metal elements and there needs to be no cause for alarm, this is metal and this is heavy (in it's own special way). The atmospheric element gives it a bit of a fairytale feeling and the entire demo is very easy listening, if you ask me. I sometimes feel the un-natural urge to sing "la la la laaa" along with more melodic parts. Only to find myself head banging again to the aggressive sections and grunts. The vocals are actually another story. About the grunts I can be quick, they sound full, thick and are highly enjoyable. The clean vocals however take some getting used to. They are more of an acquired taste to be honest. The Dutch/Belgian accent is quite heavy most of the time, off key or in some other way off. I think it is safe to say their vocalist can't really sing. But have you ever had that feeling that you just totally dig something, just because it has such a unique and odd feel to it? Because these clean vocals just have comfortable feel about them, you want to listen to them over and over again. The man can't sing, but it somehow just sounds so nice! Are Bellator the next big doomy sensation to storm the doom-charts of despair? No, I don't think so. The band has a lot of potential and some of their material is downright catchy. Just check out the "funky" keyboard bits on 'Myriad Gateways' and 'Ghost Ride' (almost Ayreon alike!). But they still lack that extra special cutting edge. They at times still lean too much on the sound of other light death/doom acts. On the other hand, this demo is better than some official releases by other underground Doom acts. 'Iridescence' is most definitely worth checking out and if you're a death/doom fan I will not be surprised if it found it's way into your CD player at regular intervals. But I have the feeling that Bellator's true moment has yet to come.	1. The Journey's Onset 2. Deadlocked 3. Myriad Gateways 4. The Pular Voyage 5. Ghost Ride 6. Prelude to Austerity 7. Vaults of the infinite 8. In Spectra Approx. 57 minutes
Reviewed by: Aldo Quispel