Info
- Band(s): Blasphamagoatachrist
- Label(s): Nuclear War Now! Productions
- Release Format(s): 12" vinyl, CD
- Release Year: 2025
- Review Date: March 21, 2025
- Author(s): Black Mary, FelixS
It’s so cringeworthy when these supergroups (bands comprised from musicians who already got recognized with their initial bands) or any bands in general, announce stuff like ‘huge things coming’ before they actually even start working on anything music related. You get your expectations up… and when it finally happens, after months, if not years of blabbering and online promotion about how their new album will introduce a completely new genre and will be the heaviest you have ever heard, it’s just music in its most average, boring form. I mean, I’d love to see government buildings around the world spontaneously combusting for no apparent reasons. That would definitely be one of those ‘huge things’ for me.
Generally speaking, I find supergroups tacky as they rarely live up to the expectations they build with their ability to endlessly talk about ’shifting on how we perceive music’. So, you can imagine I had my doubts when I first heard members of legendary Blasphemy and Goatpenis were teaming up with another Canadian band, Antichrist to form a supergroup. This time there was a shitton of talking done by fans, yet very little from the actual band. And then their demo ‘Black Metal Warfare’ was released in 2018 and followed by a full length ‘Bastardizing the Purity’ two years later. Damn, I loved being proven wrong in their case. Both times the band showed younglings what it takes to define a genre in the first place and stay atop of your game after decades of destroying the ears of weak people. And what was even better, they did not have to invent hot water to show the world how it’s done. They did what they know they do best.
Less than a year later, they lost one of their founding members as Goatpenis’ Sabbaoth passed away. People started to guess if this was the end for Blasphamagoatachrist and again, a lot of people talked, yet nothing was said by the remaining band members. There were even people whose entire life consists of sharing the information they allegedly got from band members, who were making huge assumptions the band was done.
In 2024, while blabbering about the band literally went silent (at least in our, mere mortals sphere), they lost another member as Virrigus Apocali of Goatpenis passed away. The both deaths within the band seemed to be the sign of the obvious end of this band. Yet, earlier this year a cover of a new album was posted online, simply stating ‘soon’… and people who previously claimed the band was definitely done started to talk about how they knew nothing would stop the band from making a new album. I mean, neither world pandemic and world war 3 couldn’t stop them.
Some of you might remember what Blasphemy was like four decades ago, when they were a part of the crew which invented the underground. Their bestial take on black metal was deadly and sincere. While the band still remains very active (and still as superb as they were decades ago), they haven’t released anything new, so this is as close as we’re gonna get from them. No complaints here. Blasphamagoatachrist sound like Blasphemy sounded four decades ago, proving you don’t need to invent anything new to be able to crush the self-centred hot shots appearing in the underground like vermin. In the meanwhile, Goatpenis called it quits as two of the key members were no longer alive. This album is a swansong any black metal skinhead could only dream of receiving.
Still, almost no information about it from the band. They come in, do what they do best and leave. That’s my idea of how spontaneous combustion of government buildings around the world sound like in music form. The people will talk no matter what. And some will even get offended. Which means the goal of this music was reached almost effortlessly.
Evandro Siebert – Sabbaoth (1970 – 2021) and Fernando Barg – Virrigus Apocali (1979 – 2024) thank you. Your legacy will live on forever. (Black Mary)
— — — —
Those who thought that Blasphamagoatachrist would cease to exist after the deaths of Sabbaoth (2021) and Virrugus (2024) turns out completely mistaken. Of course, it is quite a drain to lose both the bassist and guitarist in a short period of time, let alone your friends, but the remaining duo is determined to continue the band and musically honour their fallen brothers.
Admittedly, I too did not think I would ever be presented with another Blasphamagoatachrist album, but here we are. Originally intended to crown this new work with the title ‘Sulferous Burns Upon Heaven’, it was ultimately decided to settle with the shorter ‘Bestial Abominator’. But the funny thing is, actually both titles fit the music equally well and completely cover the scope.
Although it’s not entirely clear to me whether this new album also contains new material or especially if much of it should be considered posthumous. Either way, the band has found a new bassist with Antichrist’s Daryl “The Inciter of Armageddon” Manning and current drummer Trevor “Incinerator of Lacerated Angels and Coffin Destruction” Antichrist will also take on the guitar duties in addition to the drums. But regardless of the “what and who” of ‘Bestial Abominator’, it surely is a fabulous continuation of the band’s earlier two efforts. An obvious step up even.
I always found it intriguing that not only did the musicians come up with a band name made up of parts of their “main” bands Blasphemy, Goatpenis and Antichrist, but also that the music actually falls right in the middle of those three. Nothing has changed about that concept, ‘Bestial Abominator’ consequently brings more of the same and that is exactly what we came for. With a slightly more emphatic Black Metal edge, this is still largely Morbid Angel gone War Metal; less thunderous than Blasphemy, but clearly more riff oriented and with a slightly more bellowing sort of vocals.
The main and most significant difference between ‘Bastardizing The Purity’, the band’s debut album from 2020 and this newest offering is definitely the production. Where the first full-length album (as well as the preceding ‘Black Metal Warfare’-demo tape) were rather raw and crude in nature, ‘Bestial Abominator’ has a distinctly more brutal and in-your-face sound. In a way this reminds me of how Angelcorpse sounded in their prime, with each individual instrument having its righteous place, but with a lot of emphasis on the relentless drumming and the caveman roar. Consequently, the music opens up a bit more and shows the actual structure. Especially in the parts that the band slows down a bit, it is clear that there is way more going on than just the senseless barbarity that it might seem at the first glimpse. There’s even, dare I say, melody and actual song writing to discover on ‘Bestial Abominator’, but, and this is where the fun kicks in, it does not come at the cost of the all-encompassing wild and violent cruelty that the band is known for.
A Blasphamagoatachrist worthy record that I’m sure Sabboath and Virrugus would have loved. (FelixS)
Blasphamagoatachrist
- Country: Brazil, Canada
- Style: Death Metal, Black Metal
- Links: Facebook
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Nuclear War Now! Productions
- Country: USA
- Style: Black Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Thrash Metal, Other
- Links: Homepage, Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp
