The Royal Arch Blaspheme

Definitely one of the leaders of the ultra-raw death/black-thrash movement, the Royal Arch Blaspheme keep things primitive and nasty on their second full-length. This New Jersey-based duo (featuring weirdoes from Krieg, Twilight and the mighty Profanatica) don't exactly progress from their first album or even create anything that anyone who isn't directly involved in the band will be able to distinguish from that first album. But that's not a surprise, as no one seeks out this form of ultra-cult death/black extremity looking for boundary-pushing progression. Nope, it's all about hitting the listener over the head with an ultra-evil brick, song after song, album after album. Sure, cuts like opener "When the Cruel Nails Pierced Thy Tender Hands and Feet," "Broken Word of God" and "Profane Rite" lay down some sludgy, Immolation-style doom/death, but much of the rest of the album is lightning speed blackened death, sometimes blasting, sometimes doing the high-speed polka. However, it's always relentless, marching forth with the clocks of the world, just a reminder that it's all – always – brutality.