Archgoat comes back to unleash Hell.
Created in 1989 in Finland, the band driven by Lord Angelslayer (bass/vocals, Thy Serpent) and Ritual Butcherer (guitar) releases two demos and an EP with a first drummer before going on hiatus in 1993. But in 2004, the two musicians are back in business. In 2017, Goat Aggressor (Mental Transformation, Malum, ex-Pyuria) joins the band which releases today Worship the Eternal Darkness, its fifth album.
After a short unhealthy and lewd introduction, Heavens Ablaze strikes with a raw and greasy sound anchored into Black/Death roots. Blast, thick riffs and heavy howlings meet over an Old School and oppressive about leads, while the weighing and effective rhythmic drives us to Black Womb Gnosis, a majestic track. Riffs can also be putrid and abrasive, while offering a blasphemian background and tendentious samples before piercing leads, but the long All Christianity Ends unveils cumbersome tones. The tempo is quite slow, offering a dark dissonance and mystical raw influences, then airy harmonics come next before In Extremis Nazarene and its Old School influences. The song immediately reminds the band’s firsts releases, whether it is about production or raw and effective patterns, then unhealthy leads lacerate us until Rats pray God, an as disturbing as energetic song, comes. We feel Black/Punk roots are still present with this extremely straightforward track, but they’re infused with dissonant roots, just like Empyrean Armageddon, a song with horrific introduction. Once the sample passed, the band crushes us under its dark and violent mass which sometimes calls samples to complete apocalyptic vocals, melted from time to time to super effective parts. Old School roots are also present on Blessed in the Light of Lucifer, a song that connects heady melodies with weighing and thick sound, creating this hooking greasy sound that we also have on Worship the Eternal Darkness. Blast meets once more oppressive respites which slowly burst into fire to offer catchy riffs before exploding, then Burial of Creation gathers the darkest elements to close the album. The unhealthy introduction gives birth to a haunting slowness which will crush us before a worrying outro.
Archgoat was always introduced to me as a blackness steamroller. Since I know the band, my definition of their music did not change. Whether vocals can seem a bit different from what we’re used to hear, Worship the Eternal Darkness won’t deceive us with wild riffs and raw patterns.
90/100
