Welcome to The Saw’s Butcher Shop! Ya girl is bringing another New Album Review, today. This year has been an exercise in artists blurring the lines between genres and subgenres. A band celebrating 25 years this year, who have always blurred arbitrary lines of distinction, is Goatwhore. On October 7, 2022, they dropped a banger on us, Angels Hung from the Arches of Heaven (Metal Blade Records). And though The Saw loves categories, this album (like all Goatwhore’s before it) is all over the bloodied map!

Goatwhore formed in NOLA (New Orleans, LA) in 1997, being founded by guitarist/backing vocalist, Sammy Duet (Acid Bath). In 1998, vocalist Louis Benjamin Falgoust II (Soilent Green) added his talent to the band. The bass players and drummers rotated in and out of the band over the years, but are held-down today by Zack Simmons on drums (since 2004) and Robert “Trans Am” Coleman on bass (since 2017 – touring since 2014). Angels Hung from the Arches of Heaven is Goatwhore’s eighth studio album.

Blackened Death Metal is the simplest way for a categorical thinker to describe Goatwhore, but that simplicity can never hold a band like Goatwhore. They are one of those bands that refuse to evolve; for 25 years they have destroyed eardrums by the same means – wicked tremolo melodies, devastating riffs, and incredible solos from Duet; searing, angry Blackened vocals and horrifying roars of deep register gutteral madness from Falgoust. Everything Goatwhore does is driven by riffs, sometimes it is straight-forward Black Metal or pure Brutal Death Metal, and often a single song will be a combination of the two. Angels Hung from the Arches of Heaven continues this horror show, and the lyrics (as always) are of the dark arts used to describe the true horrors of humans and their acts of terror on one another.

Angels Hung from the Arches of Heaven is exactly what one would expect from Goatwhore; no surprises, but there are some new attacks – from song structures to compositions and sounds. It is vicious and malicious! And terrifying! I love it!!

12 songs, 47 minutes – long for Goatwhore

1. Invocation 3 – is some kind of summoning, again! And it sets-up what is to come:
2. Born of Satan’s Flesh – is a (literal) barn burner; wicked and crushing Black/Death Metal.
3. The Bestowal of Abomination – black and brutal, with haunting melodies; one of my favorites!
4. The Title Track – blackened melodies and vocals; thick harmony, dense wall of sound.
5. Death from Above – very thrashy, very quick time signature; double-bass and gutterals.
6. Ruinous Liturgy – Death Metal with Blackened vocals, solos and cool riffs; ROAR!!
7. Victory is the Lightning of Destruction – Death Metal riff, blackened vocals; slower groove.
8. Voracious Blood Fixation – Death Metal riff, blackened vocals with gutterals; mid-paced.
9. The Devil’s Warlords – ROAR! Great melodies, great drumming, Blackened vocals.
10. Weight of a Soulless Heart – Different, slow pace; great, dark riff; mid-range vocals.
11. Nihil – fast and brutal, thrashy; glaring solos, wicked riffs; blackened, harmonized vocals.
12. And I was Delivered from the Wound of Perdition – acoustic opening, slow crushing riff; haunting atmospheric filler, beautiful solo, Blackened gutterals; a great album closer!

Angels Hung from the Arches of Heaven is one of Goatwhore’s best albums to date. It is a beautiful expression of the darkness of Extreme Metal. Each track brings something to the album in that each is very different from the other, and each feature something different to make it stand-out. Ya girl saw Goatwhore years ago with Amon Amarth in Raleigh, NC. And I hope to see them supporting this album soon!

Rating: 9/10! Tight musicianship, awesome Black/Death Metal composition. And ROARS!!

Favorite Songs: The Bestowal of Abomination, The Devil’s Warlords, And I was Delivered from the Wound of Perdition.

Stay Metal,

THE SAW