Arist: Witchcraft
Country: Finland
Label: Wolfkult Religion
Format: Demo tape
Year: 2025
Together with the rehearsal demo ‘Shaitan’, Wolfkult Religion re-released the Witchcraft rehearsal demo ‘Belphegor’ in June 2025. Also stemming from 2024, this rehearsal is a little different than its companion in that it actually has a few songs that seemingly did not appear on any previous Witchcraft material.
Consisting of seven tracks, ‘Belphegor’ contains a few songs that have a slightly lower and more crawling pace compared to what appeared on ‘Shaitan’. That for instance goes for ‘Beast Before Throne’, a new recording that leans on an almost Doomy sound at times. The same can be said for ‘Brutal Vomit’, although the middle section is a bit wilder and more boisterous. The third of the previously unreleased tracks, ‘Cemetery Profanation’ may have a mean and grooving slower section but otherwise is a more combustible and frenzied composition with deranged vocals, a very clear throwback to the early days of Beherit and Blasphemy.
Alongside these new tracks, we find ‘Taoghomet’ which was originally released on the 2022 ‘Sodomythic Temple’ demo, another somewhat slower, more creeping track. With ‘Mouth of Hell’ we appear to have found a recent favorite song of the band members as it also made its appearance on the ‘Shaitan’ rehearsal and a few other releases since its original release in 2014. Furthermore, ‘Morbid Dawn of Black Funeral’ returns from the 2015 ‘Disinterment’ rehearsal and 2017 demo ‘Diablerie’ and presents Witchcraft in its wildest form. The rehearsal closes off with ‘Tumult of Evil’, which reared its ugly head on a 2023 split with Behalf Fiend. In other words, this rehearsal offers a little bit of new, some things old, something more obscure, but all things 100% Witchcraft. With the music stripped to its core in a crude and unpolished rehearsal sound, it’s all intention that remains. If there was ever any doubt at all, after hearing this there should be none left about the unadultered and unfiltered anger that Witchcraft wants to spread with their music.
