Darkness often reveals a path toward the hidden light, and it’s the light of Lucifer being pursued by these distinguished Finnish masters. The course of past releases continues to evolve as ARCHGOAT returns with their latest unholy offering titled Worship the Eternal Darkness, and it steadily delivers their signature barbarism while employing other elements to drive an innovative ascension. A classic underground aura emanates from these hymns, along with the occult tones and depravity embedded in their murkiness, and they prevail across dynamic planes with an unrelenting arcane might. ARCHGOAT remains unrepentant in their endeavors, which effectively attack and torment the religious establishment, but Worship the Eternal Darkness ultimately celebrates a greater glory through the force of its primal essence.
Goats bleat while an abyssal invocator presides over sensual acts, and this introduction descends in madness toward a blasting bombardment on “Heavens Ablaze.” It arrives alongside riffs to drive the barbaric intensity, and vocal patterns from Lord Angelslayer inflict their own pounding blows within this onslaught. Tremolo structures emerge prior to a slow grooving transition, where the striking power of chords and guttural vocals combine with ambience to conjure a mass of dark forces, and its heightened mark is sealed by the lead of raw tremolo melodies. A conflagration in the holy kingdom is realized before “Black Womb Gnosis” continues the assault, with percussive fluctuations emphasized by ambient notes, and flesh is indulged as fierce riffing sweeps across other rhythmic alterations ahead of another epic passage. Soloing shreds over heavy progressions, which slide purposefully in time with the groove, and this slower approach transfers to the deep noted course on “All Christianity Ends.” Organ tones compound its doomy impressions, along with bells that toll for punctuating effect, and tremolos materialize in the murk after it develops with strummed accents. The pulse elevates to a rocking pace at some points, but it ultimately favors the depths when a melodic expansion concurs with spoken glorifications to Lucifer. Frenzied soloing tears through the savagery resuming for “In Extremis Nazarene,” and it assumes varying forms that also incorporate mid-paced rhythms. These steady intervals eventually take over with further lead elements to finalize an evocative impact.
Rodents plague the sermon beginning on “Rats Pray God,” and classic vibes emanate from an intricate hammer-pulling formation that launches into primitive and battering heaviness. Organs enhance the dread of grooving sections, and these ominous impressions linger during the start of “Empyrean Armageddon,” where flames and hellish voices reflect further desecration. Ambience reverberates from bells within a rhythmic advance toward frantic blast-beaten surges, with the torment of strikes and screams echoing amid the turmoil, and faint tremolo melodies appear as heavier forces bear down. This barbaric capacity intensifies on “Blessed in the Light of Lucifer,” and riffing darkness flows between the chaotic bouts preceding an interlude. A heavy groove unfolds in response to the unholy prayer and blessing it offers, which also occurs in the presence of other spectral or cavernous energies, and the power it bestows is rapidly exercised on the title track. Fury is unleashed after a pounding entry, and frenzied developments are glimpsed in the riffs until a break reveals multiple slower-paced varieties. The brutality recommences for a final assault seeking to achieve the “Burial of Creation,” and this outcome is realized in the procession following an infernal eulogy. Its vocal possessor is present throughout and parallels the crushing string burden, along with the bells and organs augmenting their doom, and the funereal pace later evolves with pummeling drum layers. A momentarily elevated pulse gives rise to intermittent blasts with tremolo accents, but the end soon prevails through a desolate atmospheric release.
The orchestrations are matched with words of blatant sacrilege and other devilish exaltations, beginning with the blunt force level of destruction on “Heavens Ablaze,” where “The ashes crushed to powder” suggests overkill and angels are deemed “The fallen prey.” It indicates “Total darkness spreading its wings” while “Crowns tremble and the rebellion rumbles,” and the holy force perceived as a “Ruthless reign” is then defeated before venturing into the depraved rituals of “Black Womb Gnosis.” These revel in the flesh, and the devil is also present at “The Black Mass fornication,” along with witches who are “Craving the touch of the primordial snake.” Luciferian principles are exercised on “All Christianity Ends” when addressing the “Wielder of the light from below” and being “Reborn by brightness of your light.” A vicious repudiation of Christianity follows, with attacks on “The virgin whore” that include her regard as the “Mother of fornication,” and salvation is then pursued in vain on “In Extremis Nazarene.” The crucifixion is carried out with claims that “By your wounds none shall be healed,” and it observes how “Blind subservient sheep” remain lost with the “Mouth that once sowed the lies now gaping and gasping for air.” The end declares personal triumph against oppressive doctrines through “It’s not thy will, but MY will.”
The faithful slave mentality is scrutinized further on “Rats Pray God” when “Enfeebled minds never to confront, only to believe, pray and repent” are analogized as “Like bird trapped inside his eggshell, afraid to see the world outside.” Their “Lobotomic state” proves terminal when “Empyrean Armageddon” directs its apocalyptic forces at the heavens, and the flock is “Expelled away, baptized with their own ignorance.” The Antichrist’s arrival is heralded through this devastation, and a conquest of the holy realms is followed by an exemplary presence on “Blessed in the Light of Lucifer.” This godlike embodiment is portrayed as “The angel with a sword in hand,” who is “Standing proud against the Abrahamic God,” and also as the deliverer “From the darkness, into the light.” This leads to an exposure of “The unclad souls of the saints” on “Worship the Eternal Darkness,” and God’s holiness is dismissed “As filthy rag” while shunning “The cattle of the son of God.” Instead, “The road towards the knowledge… of truth” is favored, and final praises are offered to the infernal pantheon during “Burial of Creation,” with Death fulfilling its role as “The ultimate conqueror, the final liberator.” It sees “The transformation of matter” within “The black void, the endless stare” and recognizes that “Humanity fails.” These lyrics are relentless in their conviction, which ultimately seeks higher attainment and liberation resulting from the downfall of obsolete paradigms.
New offerings from ARCHGOAT are always worthy of partaking, and Worship the Eternal Darkness illustrates an unwavering shadowy devotion through the strength of their primeval roots. This infernally raw sound and style consistently satisfies, and these compositions include dynamics that effectively keep the black flame glaring, along with leadwork and other melodic structures to magnify its radiance. The bludgeoning arrangements are balanced with slower methodical passages to execute varying degrees of devastation, and they inflict a merciless scourge upon the righteous while favoring the path toward greater illumination. ARCHGOAT wields their ravaging force with impiety on Worship the Eternal Darkness, which is not only a significant effort and addition to their own discography, but also for the 2021 collective.
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