Blasphemy on the horizon for Archgoat.
Still in partnership with Debemur Morti Productions, Lord Angelslayer (bass/vocals, Thy Serpent), Ritual Butcherer (guitar), and Goat Aggressor (drums, Mental Transformation, Malum, ex-Pyuria) have announced the release of their sixth album, Nightbringer, Lightbringer.
The iconoclasts kick things off with Invocation 666, a dark and sinister introduction that naturally leads us to Nightbringer, Lightbringer, the title track that immediately unleashes a barrage of violence with a devastating blast beat paired with hoarse growls and simple yet ferocious riffs. The sheer effectiveness of the Finns’ Black/Death Metal is, as always, striking, and our heads will start banging along to the most aggressive passages, but the band also treats us to more majestic sections before letting The Dawn to Armageddon crush us in turn with a slightly more ethereal touch. The song’s slow tempo makes it deeply haunting and haunting, also allowing for some well-placed harmonics – just as on Iconoclasm the Nazarene, which maintains a much more aggressive approach but doesn’t neglect its mystical influences in its few lead guitar parts. The musicians maintain these furious patterns while occasionally adding some keyboards to accompany the screams before moving on to Blood of Jesus Spilling upon the Earth, which relentlessly tramples us with a thick, uncompromising rhythm section, offering as its only breaks the slower yet equally suffocating moments. The Stygian Millennium takes over, developing a colder, more solemn tone, especially thanks to the sampled bell, but the entire track remains quite imposing, even during the waves of rage that ultimately lead to Invocation 999, a harrowing interlude that clearly echoes the introduction. The keyboards continue into the opening moments of Keys of Hell and of Death, offering one last moment of mysticism before the trio returns to its usual aggressive Old School style to savagely crush us before a slightly calmer final; however, The Light Behind the Horns will once again pick up speed and return to a devastating cruising pace. You can almost sense hints of thrash in the catchiest passages, just as on Reaper of Christianity, which follows suit and also channels a brutal, macabre energy, making us bang our heads once again as we savor the mid-range harmonics before diving into Obsidian Reflection of Anti-Light, the final track which is also the longest, but one that doesn’t hold back on unleashing blast beats and destructive riffs to leave a lasting impression before coming to a close.
Archgoat unsurprisingly delivers with Nightbringer, Lightbringer a collection of effective tracks straddling Black and Death Metal. There’s nothing complicated about their compositions, but the trio knows exactly how to get the job done.
80/100