Goatwhore: Angels Hung From The Arches of Heaven

Goatwhore are quite the institution in the realm of black/death/thrash metal wherein they dwell. Going on 25 years as a band, the American extreme metal veterans deliver unto us their eighth full length album; Angels Hung From The Arches of Heaven. Seems like with a (gnarly) album title like that, you'd kind of know what to expect as you reach for the play button on this one, and while it's certainly an aggressive and flesh rendering-ly evil release, there's a bit more to this one than all that hellfire and brimstone would lead you to believe.

Angels Hung From the Arches of Heaven certainly starts off with its foot on the gas. After a brief intro track we're bludgeoned with 2 straight stompers in "Born of Satan's Flesh" and "The Bestowal of Abomination". The former displays the band's death metal tendencies, while the latter has infectious and sinister black metal tinged tremolo riffs and a more moody atmosphere. Two sides of the same Goatwhore coin, as the next song (the title track and one of the best on here) displays in its fusion of the two genres. "Death from Above" is next, and straight up dirty Teutonic thrash worship. Goatwhore are basically a chimera of extreme metal styles, and it totally works.

The album tends to steer towards the blackened thrash moniker for most of the remainder of the album. "Ruinous Liturgy" and "Victory is the Lightning of Destruction" certainly fit that tag well enough, but "Voracious Blood Fixation" sounds a bit more like a satanic version of Motorhead on speed, which certainly isn't without its charms. "Nihil" is another track that deserves a mention, primarily because in between the absolutely ferocious beatings the song gives you, there's a wicked melodic (and briefly harmonized!) guitar solo in there as a treat. Final track "And I Was Delivered From The Wound Of Perdition" is the longest and most dynamic track on the album, starting as a stompy funeral dirge before twisting and turning into a hellstorm of riffs from which no light can escape.

Angels Hung From The Arches of Heaven is a hell of a release from this veteran act. Varied enough to keep your interest during even its most aggressive and caustic bits, this is 47 minutes of mature and well constructed metal that shows off the surprising range of the band, but leaves no doubt whatsoever that these are some bad dudes (in the cool way) that love them some Satan.

Tracklist:
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

Added: January 23rd 2023
Reviewer: Brandon Miles
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 523
Language: english

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