Beautiful noise from Baleful Creed.

AFTER releasing three eps Belfast's Baleful Creed have pulled together 10 tracks from those releases to launch a full length album - and what a collection it is.

And the tracks as a collection all make even more sense pulled together as one release with the blend of Sabbath style riffs, southern metal groove and powerful choruses working as one.

Where before the Baleful Creed songs were all excellent - especially live - they sat often in isolation from each other coming as they did from disparate releases.

Now this album is a platform that they can build from to take this four-piece to the next level of success.

Kicking off with the driving self-titled song as a statement of the band's commitment, the following song - Autumn Leaves - is where the soul of the band lies: darkness and light as a contrast and a tale that would be spine-chilling if related as a film.

That contrast lies at the heart of Baleful Creed's unique selling-point: where some other bands across the UK, Europe and the USA sometimes slavishly draw on their influences Creed meld them together like demented musical welders.

Illuminati, the afore-mentioned Autumn Leaves, Misanthrope, Double FS and Thorazine are stand-outs in this overall excellent collection.

It is the combination of musicianship and song-writing that has produced this album. Fin Finlay's vocals, supported by drummer Mark Stewart's singing on Misanthrope and backing vocals are the obvious sound that draw casual listeners; but dig beneath for a little longer and Fin and John Allen's guitars weave an aural soundscape, with Stephen Fleming's bass holding the tenuous grip that prevents it all from drifting apart.

Fin and John's inter-weaving guitars, riffing and superb solos are the outworking of the magic: they provide the atmosphere that make the songs come alive.

Simply called Baleful Creed this is an album that is worth the investment - whether from the four-piece's Bandcamp page -  or better still as a physical album to sit on your racks, where it will take a worthy place.