Review: Non Est Deus - Blessings and Curses (2026)

Band: Non Est Deus
Album: Blessings and Curses
Genre: Black Metal
Country: Germany
Label: Noisebringer Records
Released: 3rd April 2026

Introduction

German blasphemous black metal band Non Est Deus return with their fifth album, Blessings and Curses. This one man band is a project from the talented musician and multi-instrumentalist Noise along with his other passion projects Kanonenfieber and Leiþa. 

As the name unsubtly suggests this band deals with religion, or rather, Christianity. The philosophy behind it all and stripping it all down to a finely tuned yet fierce melodic art of someone vehemently against it all.

The structure of this album follows a devotee to Christianity, pledging himself as a vessel of pure sanctity free from all sin and seeking guidance in life. Yet unsurprisingly, prayers fall on deaf ears and so faith is lost and that is where our path diverges from humbled righteousness into disobedience of the church.

Blessings and Curses

Church bells and an organ perfectly set the mood as we are welcomed into church to confess to the almighty G-Dog himself in our introduction Prayer I. 

Forgiveness and mercy is the name of the game here, and a recurring theme for the first half of this album. Looking for God to show his benevolence in the titular Blessings part of the album, it is unmistakable in its approach but handled rather well.

The lead single Show Mercy properly kicks this album off, with its more hard-rock anthem approach with verse, chorus, verse structures and chord driven guitars that accompany the more spoken word style verses.  

At times the first half of this album in particular leans towards a more black ‘n’ roll approach. That style really feels like the motif of the album, a more crowd friendly style of black metal, ironically sanctified to be easier to consume.

No Noise album is complete without his speeches, and rest assured he does not skimp on them on this album as the feature on every single track. This time, passages from the bible are read out from Deuteronomy, Matthew, Thessalonians, Isaiah, amongst others. To reference Reverend Lovejoy from The Simpsons “oh it’s all good” in a half-hearted fashion and exaggerated roll of the eyes. It does feel overdone, where Noise is almost becoming a parody of himself with slightly killing the momentum of each song to include the mandatory dictation.

Something I immediately noticed as well (and I know I am not alone in this) is that My Lord seems very reminiscent of another of Noise's songs, Waffenbrüder from Kanonenfieber in terms of structure. 

Great tremolo riffs adorn the songs Forgive Me, Kora, and The Forsaken in particular, with a heavier tone to them compared to the slightly more rock approach that we get with other songs. The latter also marks the point in the album where our protagonist is losing faith, their prayers lay unanswered and despite their relentless devotion “No answer ever came”.

Prayer II is our intermission for the album featuring a grand choir and organ in order to set an ominous tone as we descend into the depths of the second half like an angel cast out from heaven. Our religious figure who has been crying out for forgiveness has now lost his way, falling into the Curses half of the album.

As the name suggests, Transgression sets this darker mood, conjuring visions of burning in eternal hellfire. Giving in to desire, heading towards sin, and through this discordant-toned song damnation awaits.

Kora and The Sacrifice continue this theme of betraying God and being cast aside from divinity that sporadically breaks out into a more blackened death metal approach, especially noticeable in the heavy chugging of The Indulgence. The most interesting part I found here was actually some synth work that joins in at the 02:38 mark of that final song, and something I would have loved to have heard more of.

Conclusion 

This album sits somewhere between the vein of their previous albums Impious and There Is No God, ironically leaving the legacy of Legacy behind. I know that album caught some flak from people for being too Mgła-esque (which honestly I never thought was anything worth complaining about) but this album returns to the classic style that has worked well in the past. 

It definitely feels more built to live performances, much akin to how he wrote Kanonenfieber - Die Urkatastrophe. Geared towards moments of spectacle and crowd participation back and forth chants which I'm sure makes for fantastic moments when you're watching them on stage. 

The speeches through his songs make this album feel like you're attending a sermon in a church, with Noise himself being the Priest that preaches this story of a fallen sheep of God, lecturing the flock into conforming lest they fall into the same downfall.

Ultimately, it is a Noise album stripped down to the essentials. Nothing about this album feels bad, it’s well written, it’s powerful, it is enjoyable to listen to. But, and it’s a big but (I cannot lie), this album has no real standouts and is entirely too safe. It’s like the criticisms of Legacy were taken too harshly and he’s completely recoiled in the wrong direction and rather than exploring the band in a new direction it has returned to the shallows where it is safe and familiar.

BMZ Rating: 7/10

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