Artist: Blasphamagoatachrist
Country: Brazil/Canada
Label: Nuclear War Now! Productions
Formats: LP / CD
Year: 2025
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.
