[9] Vikernes suggests that Belus is the oldest known (Proto-Indo-European) name of the life-death-rebirth deity that is reflected in the Norse Baldr, the Greek Apollo, the Gaulish Belenus and the Slavic Belobog (itself meaning "White God"), among others.

[14] The album endeavours to explore the ancient European myths about Belus: his death, his journey through the underworld and his return.

Belus includes two reworked songs: "Total Destruction" from the unreleased Uruk-Hai from 1988–1989 (with lyrics and title changed to fit the album's theme), which became "Sverddans", and "Dauði Baldrs" (which appears on the album of the same name as an ambient song), which became "Belus' død".

The AllMusic reviewer noted that the album was "defiled by intentionally lo-fi production standards that still barely try to mask the sophisticated compositional foundations supporting excellent songs" and named "Glemselens elv" as a highlight.

While they praised the instrumentation, they heavily criticized Vikernes' change of vocal style when compared to earlier albums; "His wolf-esque howls have been replaced with mediocre, wholly unimpressive run-off-the-mill shrieks".