Archgoat - Worship the Eternal Darkness

The sonorous trumpets of the Apocalypse.

(Originally submitted to the Metal Archives on December 26th 2021) 

Archgoat is one of those bands. After having made a banger of a demo in the 90s (Angelcunt), they unceremoniously broke up and disappeared for more than a decade. Since their reunion in 2005 though they’ve become a force to be reckoned with, not only within the Finnish scene, but the underground at large. Their aggressive and intense brand of blackened death metal has led to them becoming a favourite among extreme metal fans, cementing them as one of the strongest bands around. 3 years after The Luciferian Crown, the band returns with their newest collection of blasphemous hymns in Worship the Eternal Darkness, and one thing’s certain, is that it kicks ass.
Every Archgoat album, despite maintaining a certain stylistic core, has had a trait that defined it and helped it stand out compared to the rest of their output. Whether it’s the war metal of Whore of Bethlehem (yes that one counts as war metal, fight me), or the subtle melodic touches of The Luciferian Crown, the band’s iterations on their sound are always a treat to observe when a new release comes out. Worship the Eternal Darkness’ defining characteristic is variety. A lot of it. The tracks here are all quite different from one another and indulge in a different aspect of their sound, and they all meld together perfectly. “Heavens Ablaze” brings to mind the sound of the debut, “All Christianity Ends” sees the band indulge in slow tempos and crushing, mosh worthy segments, and “Rats Pray God” has the best riff I’ve heard all year. Seriously, that blackened speed metal riff that opens the song is the greatest curveball I’ve seen Archgoat throw in an album, and you know what’s the best part? It doesn’t feel out of place. The band has somehow managed to write their most memorable and diverse album to date, and not only that, they’ve also made it feel cohesive.
The production here continues the “slightly-cleaned-up-but-not-sterile” trend that we’ve been seeing since Whore of Bethlehem, to improved results, in part due to the songwriting. The band’s stronger emphasis on bludgeoning mid-tempo sections, which help the bass be more audible than it used to be, thus adding more heft to them. It still gets lost during the faster moments here, but you can’t have it all. The rest of the instruments sound quite good as well, with the guitars having a very meaty tone to them, while the drums are appropriately punishing.
While I do like this release quite a bit (in case it wasn’t obvious enough), I do have some, admittedly minor, complaints to make about it. These are directed towards specifically two songs that sadly didn’t manage to grab me as much as others, those being “Empyrean Armageddon” and “Burial of Creation”. The former of the two is just kinda, there, not making that big of an impression, while the latter is a total clunker. It lasts for more than 6 minutes, a staggering majority of which is spent listening to 2 plodding riffs, which outstay their welcome due to the fact that the song doesn’t pick up the pace at any point. I get the sentiment of wanting to give the record a dramatic ending, but man, there’s better ways to do it than this. Also the moans on the intro and “Black Womb Gnosis” are goofy as all hell, and they’d be better off left out of the album.
As a whole, Worship the Eternal Darkness can be seen as the definitive Archgoat experience. It covers a lot of ground and showcases the different facets of the band’s sound, without resorting to self-plagiarism. It’s a great addition to their catalogue, and is made all the more impressive considering how long they’ve been around for. If you’re interested in the band’s sound, definitely give this a shot, and if you already like them, well, you’re probably listening to it already.
Highlights: Heavens Ablaze, All Christianity Ends, Rats Pray God

Rating: 87% 


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