Band's List Black Death Archgoat Heavenly Vulva (Christ's Last Rites)

Ever since I was introduced to Archgoat, they have quickly become one of my favourite bands of all time, with their 2009 album The Light-Devouring Darkness easily being one of the most listened to album personally. The raw production quality, the dark atmosphere of the music and the ritualistic music of the band manages to capture my attention like no other band. The minute Heavenly Vulva was announced, I could barely contain my excitement as I eagerly await a fresh round of ear-raping black/death metal.

Unlike previous releases, Archgoat has decided to use a different introductory track this time and it was certainly weird, not hearing the usual Invocation track that puts the first sense of unease in the listener. Intro though, still has that haunting atmosphere that longtime fans of Archgoat would expect out of the band, so there is no harm done. As the EP begins proper with Blessed Vulva, the listener is instantly taken back to the early days of the band, with the production quality sounding as if it were recorded in 1993 and with the biting guitar tone, when the band released their first EP Angelcunt.

Blessed Vulva presents to listener a style that is slightly different from what one is already familiar with from the band, as the song progresses at a slow, trance-inducing pace, with a ritualistic atmosphere, complete with the tolling of the bells at the background. Lord Angelslayer's low, burp-like growls are brutal as ever, though on Blessed Vulva it sounds slightly messy, causing the listener to get slightly disoriented. The other thing that one notices is also the increased presence of the bass guitars, compared to previous releases of the band.

Penetrator of the Second Temple brings listeners back to familiar ground. The song structure sounds like it could come off the band's debut Angelcunt EP, with moments reminding listeners of songs such as Rise of the Black Moon, especially as the band slows down towards the middle of the track and the atmosphere gets increasingly heavy, with synths at the background. Day of Clouds even sounds like Penis Perversor, only without the tortured screams of a woman being whipped in the background, and closing track Passage to Millennial Darkness have moments that remind listeners of Soulflay. The usual chaotic guitar solos are also present on tracks such as Goddess of the Abyss of Graves, and this helps in ensuring that no one sane is left after the 16 minutes of madness contained on this EP.

Heavenly Vulva sees Archgoat taking a step back in their songwriting to their early days, and is an album sure to please older fans of the band. Dissidents may very well complain about how all songs sound similar to each other and about the lack of technicality, but Archgoat has never been about technical wankery, and Heavenly Vulva could very well be one of the strongest efforts of Archgoat so far.