Archgoat — The Lucifer Crown
After a brief intro track, we get into the first track proper ‘Jesus Christ Father of Lies’, a slab of brutal old school Black/Death Metal. The track features some lovely lead breaks from Ritual Butcherer in its slower moments and it’s interesting to hear how the keyboards infuse the band’s sound, specifically later in the track. ‘The Jezebel’s Black Mass Orgy’ is more of the same brutal Black/Death Metal played with conviction by top class musicians. It is neither new nor different, but it is well written and performed with a vitality lacking in some modern Black Metal. ‘The Messiah of Pigs’ is up next and whilst firmly in the same camp as the previous tracks, what one really notices is the riffs. Ritual Butcherer knows a good riff when he hears it and he has peppered the album with some excellent guitar riffs. ‘The Darkness Has Returned’ provides more straight forward Black/Death, but the riffs this time out have an old school thrash metal vibe that reminds me of bands in the vein of Dark Angel.
The second half of the album gets underway with ‘Sorcery and Doom’, after a creepy, atmospheric opening with all manner of samples and chants, the band unleash their brand of brutal Black Metal upon the listener, but it’s interesting to hear how the addition of a keyboard player has helped them to round out their sound. ‘Star and Darkness’ opens with synthesized chanting and tolling bells before picking up the pace again. Fast and brutal but with hints of melody, and a greater reliance on synthesizers to help create an atmosphere. This for me is one of the better tracks on the album. ‘The Obsidian Flame’ is up next. Another great track, this one is slower with a grinding riff, both melodic and heavy. The track uses keyboards to flesh out the sound, which is something I like a lot. I hear so many bands who seem to lose their edge when they add keyboards into the mix, this never happens with Archgoat. The brutality is still there for all to hear. The title track ‘The Luciferian Crown’ is up next and returns us to the faster, brutal sound of the earlier tracks before album closer ‘I Am Lucifer’s Temple’ brings proceedings to a close. Another slower number that is very much in the style of later Satyricon or Darkthrone, with elements of punk and rock n roll infused into it. This is one of my favourites on the album and brings me to the conclusion that I really like the band when they’re innovating with their sound.
Overall the album is pretty solid, the performances are good and in particular the addition of the keyboards have started to bring a whole new depth to the band’s sound. New drummer Aggressor is excellent and the band look and sound like they are going places. The production is excellent, and the songwriting is very solid, Ritual Butcherer is a top riff writer and it is nice to hear some more traditional sounding thrash and metal style riffs infecting their sound. Long may it continue. I think this current lineup is only just starting to come into its own and I look forward to hearing future releases.