There's a special place in my heart not only for non-Tasmanian Australian metal bands, but particularly those who aren't afraid to stay inside a melodic pocket for awhile before abusing you with relentless aggression and dissonance. It's nice! Now, some of the songs on this album are going to cost you 17 minutes, but it is a solid 17 minutes both (yes, both) times. On the genre front, this is black metal, so don't be mistaken thinking it's otherwise. Bellum II heavily leans into the progressive elements to frame itself, and it's done quite well, albeit the doomier black metal with extra melancholy not being my preferred taser setting. I'm liking whats going on, and certainly keen to see what more they have in store for us.