By: Richard Maw
Album Type: Full Length
Album Type: Full Length
“Angels Hung From The Arches of Heaven” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1. Invocation 3
2. Born of Satan's Flesh
3. The Bestowal of Abomination
4. Angels Hung from the Arches of Heaven
5. Death from Above
6. Ruinous Liturgy
7. Victory Is the Lightning of Destruction
8. Voracious Blood Fixation
9. The Devil's Warlords
10. Weight of a Soulless Heart
11. Nihil
12. And I Was Delivered from the Wound of Perdition
The Review:
Yet another classic band from NOLA, Goatwhore have been at the coal face of extreme metal for twenty years plus. Unbelievable, but true. They’ve enough albums under their (studded?) belts now that I was wondering if the spite, the energy, the ferocity would still be there. Well, it’s not only there- it’s burning brighter than ever!
“Invocation 3” sets the tone and then “Born of Satan’s Flesh” brings the speed and power. From there, it’s all ferocious… and with a myriad of genres cropping up. This is not one dimensional at all. It mixes death metal, thrash, post metal and black metal in a gumbo that I can only really describe as ‘extreme metal.’ Each track brings something different, whether it be the blackened/post vibes of the title track or the thrashing brutality of “Death from Above”.
The songs themselves are uniformly tight and muscular in terms of composition; and they are aided by an appropriately tight and muscular production and mix. There’s no fat here and only the closer “And I was Delivered from the Wound of Perdition” really lengthens the band’s stride. Elsewhere it’s all focus and drive.
It’s one of my favourite extreme metal releases from the last year and I can’t fault it. It has the energy and burning ambition of bands half Goatwhore’s age (both in the band members’ physical age and in terms of their recording career). There is everything to like about this gnarled beast of an album and nothing to complain about it. It’s well balanced, streamlined and brutal in the right measure. Just have a listen to any track, or try “Victory Is the Lightning of Destruction” or “The Devil’s Warlords” Or “Ruinous Liturgy” or… well, any track. Superb and vicious metal, in every way.
“Angels Hung From The Arches of Heaven” is available now
