Friday 24/11/06 Lacuna Coil, The Haunted, Belphegor, Shallowpoint, Signs Of Betrayal @ The Rialto Theater, Arizona

As the crowd thickens they start chanting “S.O.B.” No it doesn’t stand for the son of a female dog, it’s for Signs Of Betrayal. Well known and loved throughout the southwest they are a band on the rise. They walk onto the stage amongst cheers, take their positions and ‘Memory’ begins. There is a deep rich quality to Dave William’s voice that brings a dark epic edge to the extraordinary ‘Blink.’ A heart betrayed in love fuels the lyrics of ‘My Song To You.’ And by the time ‘Addiction’ ends we are absolutely blown away.

Shallowpoint kicks their set off with ‘Castaway’ a song that suddenly shifts gears from slow and mellow to loud in your face anger and anguish. ‘Deluge’ washes over us. Then the deeply rhythmic, hypnotic and seductive ‘Hypocrite’ leaves the crowd screaming. Andy, the vocalist, can turn his voice on a dime as spontaneous shouts are heard and he begins ‘A Little Room to Breath.’ Andy says “This song is for our men and women in uniform,” and the band plays ‘Welcome Home.’

Black death metal rains down upon us as the Austrian band Belphegor brings a potent and heavy presence to the stage. We wouldn’t be surprised if their music didn’t really come from the darker side of death itself. That being said their non-melodic songs are laced with deep growls and vocals that sound more like incantations and satanic rituals. It must be hard to sound so evil and they are absolute masters at it. Drummer and Lead Singer Nefastus has the face of an angel and a demons voice. In demonology the character Belphegor is literally a Demon.