Grand Belial’s Key - Judeobeast Assassination. To my great delight, the CD came with extras: a hand-numbered and defiled prayer card, and a rosary in a silken pouch.
Ok, so, in the grand history of Christian folklore, there are dozens of different ways that the society of Hell and its various demons can be structured. One of the most popular is The Seven Princes of Hell, which divides Hell between seven ruling demons, each of which represents the seven deadly sins (and is opposed by saints who represent the seven heavenly virtues). It's fun because it's got a solid theological theme and not too many working parts - seven is a more digestible number than nine or, like, however the fuck your sort out all the demons in the Lesser Key of Solomon, each of which has some arbitrary number of legions of demon soldiers under their command, and the deadly sins theme gives you a clear way to make each prince's domain stand out.
(Obviously I'm a bit biased here, since I used a modified version of the Seven Princes of Hell for my own story about demons, but still, I think the point stands.)
Now, who the seven princes of Hell are can differ. Binsfield, the guy who coined the name, lists them as follows:
Lucifer, Prince of Pride
Mammon, Prince of Greed
Asmodeus, Prince of Lust
Leviathan, Prince of Envy
Beelzebub, Prince of Gluttony
Satan, Prince of Wrath
Belphegor, Prince of Sloth
However, there are earlier versions of the seven princes that rearrange things. Beelzebub has been given the sin of Envy at times, Belphegor has been given gluttony, and both Belial and Abaddon/Apollyon have taken the role of prince of Sloth. With me so far?
Right, ok, so here's the thing: ALL of these demons have shit going on in folklore outside of their role as potential princes of Hell. Well, all except one. To wit:
Lucifer, despite being a translation error, quickly became the front-runner in the grand race of "Who is THE Devil in the Bible, i.e. the leader of Hell itself?" It helps that said translation error was made by King James in his version of the Bible, which, while a terrible translation, is an amazing piece of poetry in its own right and beloved by many Christians because of it. Notably, Lucifer is The Devil of Paradise Lost, which is up there with Dante's The Divine Comedy in being one of the most important and influential depictions of Hell of all time.
Beelzebub is one of the oldest demons in all of demonology, predating Christianity itself, and is pretty close to Lucifer in the race for "Who is THE Devil," with arguably a better claim to the position despite Lucifer being the more popular candidate for the role.
Satan gets kudos for being one of the few devils that's ACTUALLY named in the Bible... even if it's less a name in context and more a title akin to "prosecuting attorney." Because of that, he's arguably got the greatest claim to being The Devil, and in most works where a different devil gets the title, Satan is treated as one of his alternate titles anyway.
Asmodeus was set up in folklore to be The Devil, and has a pretty strong claim to the title because of that. He's also clearly what Dante based his description of the devil's physical appearance on, with his three different colored heads and all, and that gives him some major props.
Leviathan is also a rare demon who gets mentioned in the Bible, although in the Bible it's pretty clear he's not a demon but rather a big sea monster, and a lot of Christian folklore treats him as such instead of as a demon. So that's a pretty big "other thing going on" for him - sometimes he's not even a demon, but more of a godzilla.
Belphegor was mentioned in a good number of texts predating the concept of arranging demons by the seven deadly sins, and while he was mostly a minor demon (akin to most of the other residents of the Lesser Key of Solomon, like Shax or Marchosias or what have you), that's still something. Becoming a Prince of Hell gave him a greater claim to fame, but still, he had a career before it.
Abaddon/Apollyon is one of those demons whose name is ALSO a synonym for Hell itself, which is a pretty big deal. He can be a demon, or he can be hell, or he can be BOTH, like in the takes where Hell has a literal mouth to swallow sinners and is portrayed as kind of a living monster in its own right. He also got to be The Devil in Pilgrim's Progress, and that's pretty cool.
Belial is one of the absolute earliest demons, having been cast as The Devil in the Book of Enoch, which is kind of the O.G. Abrahamic demon story (as much as any written story could be the source of it, anyway). Thus, while Belial may not have the most popular claim to being The Devil, he arguably has the best claim to it, or at least the earliest. Also, Belial is just as often depicted as a lady demon as he is a male demon, which means Belial is the best candidate for a Princess of Hell.
But that leaves... Mammon. And as far as I can tell in all my research, Mammon's claim to fame is and has always been being the Demon of Greed. Like Lucifer, his existence is owed to a translation of the Bible personifying something that was not originally a person - "mammon" was just supposed to mean money and other material wealth, but then it became, well, Mammon, the demonic personification of Greed.
He's the demon who was made for his sin, rather than being given it after his creation. The only demon whose existence purely hinges on needing a personification of a sin, the only one who has no other shit going on. Lucifer, Beelzebub, Asmodeus, they all have rich histories as demons in folklore, but Mammon? He's just greed.
And that's weird to me. Were there no other, more popular demons who could embody the concept? How does Mammon feel having nothing else to him beyond his sin? It's kinda weird, right?
I've got no greater point to this, I just thought it'd be fun to share.
"Oh no, we have to share a room during the Grand Spruce Up" is basically a freebie for any kind of shipping fic
All you need is two characters, have them be in the crew and "oh no, there's only one bed"
Of course it also works to establish friendships, but it really reads like an instant plot coupon for getting two characters together
Right?? I’m so glad. It can be more than two, as well—the Grand Blues comic had Arthur and Mordred having to go to Soriz’s room, for example, and that could be a weird friendship or animosity creator right there. XD
“Plot coupon,” I love that! There’s no such thing as too many of those. (And since Belial “doesn’t need” a room key, maybe he roams around the Grandcypher or even stays in Danchou’s room…
New Generation Stars: Yuka accidentally puts salt in her coffee, leading to a discussion of false Ultras. Ediom first shows her the Zarab Seijin who freed Belial's Nise Ultraman, and then Babalau Seijin Baba's Nise Ultraman Orb, who got a chance to actually be the hero. Ediom then moves in to fakes which actually replicate the abilities, like the Nise Ultra Brothers (SR) and Darklops Zero, the sight of a robot double of Zero giving Yuka pause, and then Aizen Mikoto as Ultraman Orb Dark, Yuka compares him to Ignis' Dark Trigger, only to realise they didn't add any of the data they looked at to the STORAGE Key.
Gotchard: Kaguya defeats Hotaro despite Spanner's intervention, and declares the time to work together is at an end, to the conclusion of everyone setting up a party for Kaguya. Butler sees the Doom's Clock, which once brought ruin to the World of Legend, prompting the Riders to go try and stop it. Gigist revives Saigetsu, intrigued by the world's destruction, so as Ark-One he targets Kaguya, battling Legend, and when about to lose, as the Gotchard Riders arrive, Gigist merges him with NammoNite, SayZombie, GigaLodon, and by grabbing it from space, GokigenMeteon, forcing a quadruple transmutation Ark-One Malgam which is able to overpower everyone. Hotaro tries to press Kaguya to accept his help, but Kaguya is determined to act alone, but while he prepares even Spanner tells him he can't resist Hotaro befriending him. Kaguya goes and Hotaro tells him he's going to fight even if not with him. When more Kasshin appear Spanner and Rinne appear to handle them, allowing Platinum Gotchard and Legendary Legend to fight the Ark-One Malgam. After a mysterious force protects him from one attack, Hotaro use UFO-X, X-Rex and Gaiard to disrupt more attacks. Recognising the power of Hotaro's allies, Kaguya relies on his own, himself, becoming Zero-Two and summoning Rising Hopper and Metal Cluster Hopper for some attacks, then becoming Grand Zi-O, summoning Blade, Hibiki, the Kachidoki Flag before swapping for the Sonic Arrow, then, in order to separate all 4 Chemies from the Malgam, summons Zi-O and Zi-O II to join Hotaro in defeating the Malgam, Hotaro then uses the rescued Chemies alongside Legend to defeat Saigetsu. After a party, Kaguya knows he has to return to his world, and after a farewell, he and Butler start off via Aurora Curtain, witnessing another World where Gotchard seems to be alot worse off. Gigist has finally located something, an egg resting within Hotaro.
Boonboomger: Taiya is meeting with Naito Raita, president of Lightning Tech, and the one who inspired him becoming a deliveryman, having him deliver his emission free transmissions a while ago. Shirabe warns the ISA have detected a new UFO approaching, as Naito gives Taiya what he wants delivered, a plush of BunRed. It's actually a custom item for the son of an employee whose about to go into surgery, and just happens to like flashy cars like the Super Car. Taiya accepts to see the boy's smile, telling Naito to put his feet towards helping other children smile. The Hashiliens are struggling in the heat, and are met by Customisation Commander Cannon org, who tells how the situation of earth has so far been a disappointment, with no Gyasoline delivered, and has them do a normal job, so Itashar creates an Antenna Kurumajin. The Kurumajin puts antenna on civilians to control them, forcing them to fight the Boonboomgers when they arrive, and Taiya delays his delivery to come help. The heroes destroy the antenna, only for a customisation from Cannonborg to power the Kurumajin back up, antennaing everyone but Genba, who struggles to hold everyone off even when Taiya arrives, until they find they can cause feedback to disrupt the antenna by their changers, which frees everyone, allowing them to defeat the Kurumajin, and Yarucar gulps up the Gyasoline. This time he runs off due to his own recklessness, forming the Kurumaju, and giving Cannonborg an understanding. Boonboomger Robo Shovel and Patocar 2 Custom forms, then switch to Boonboomger Robo Knight defeat it. The Hashiliens apologised, but Cannonborg informs them he is taking command, as the boys gift is delivered by BunRed, the report back to Naito revealing Taiya's identity to him.
Albums of the Week! The top spot goes to Hoaxed - Two Shadows (2022). This album was included among my recent contest winnings from The Metalhead Box, and I’d never heard of the band. Turns out it’s awesome. The ultra-clean and melodic female vocals accompany a grooving, heavy rhythm section, and the songs are quite memorable. I love discovering new music like this!
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Necropanther’s excellent new release stays on for another week, as does Ettinskjalf’s. Haunt is releasing a new greatest hits compilation called “Chariot, Vol. 1,” which includes remixed and remastered versions of their finest work. Do you like Power Trip? Give Integrity’s album a try and I think you’ll like what you hear.
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1. Hoaxed - Two Shadows
2. Ettinskjalf - Between Walls and Delusion (2023)
3. Integrity - Those Who Fear Tomorrow
4. Grand Belial’s Key - Mocking the Philanthropist
5. Necropanther - Betrayal (2023)
6. Haunt - Chariot Vol. 1 (2023)
7. Obituary - Dying of Everything (2023)
8. Khemmis - Absolution
9. Ozzy Osbourne - The Ultimate Sin
☠️
What did you listen to this week?
hey its me again, neonazi record store anon. i think i found the place on google maps. Uhm.... they have several pictures with a black sun kind of thing. seems like a homemade carton circle. this looks. really bad. but im not great about spotting dogwhistles and you really seem to know the scene, do you have opinions on this?
I am not sure what are you trying to ~ask~ me about here? My 'opinion' on some nsbm record store i have never heard of in my life? If I am 'okay' with black metal being flooded with nazis? No? I dont associate myself with 'the scene'. Even if i happen to like a band that seems icky for the music alone I would just download stuff but not support them financially VIA buying records/merch or wear their merch. I still think bands that are ~real~ are mostly first wave ones and back then the genre was wildly popular in South America, many legendary bands of that era had Black/Asian/latino members and genre wasnt associated with white power movements. Or are you asking if i know if bands they sell records of are nazi-esque enough? If their primary focus is like graveland, absurd, grand belial's key, satanic warmaster etc. yeah most likely. These bands are very explicit and not even trying to hide it they straight up have stuff like 'ss', '88' and 'aryan' in their bandnames, song and album titles, it's not even about reading into 'dogwhistles' they make it painfully obvious most of times. But then again I have no idea what store are you talking about.
I know we have lowercase anon as our resident Belial stand-in, but dropping an entire bomb into the askbox because of boredom is also a high-key Belial move
yeah it kept reminding me of that one grand blues ngl
like "i'm trying to let the peace be but it's hard so hard." and then a pvp bomb.
Y'know I used to see the band Morbius pop up sometimes and think "ha, maybe I should listen to 'em, it'd be funny" but I just found out that they have ties to Grand Belial's Key so. I won't be doing that.