Review by Jeger on September 11, 2024.

Only the most glorious of desecrations and only the most perverted of blasphemies are what truly satisfy me. To torch The Bible! And to hate-fuck the virgin whore until she squirms; attempting to fight back her unholy climax. Naturally, it’s only the most brutal goat-worshipping black metal that really gets my grease flowing. From Finland and straight out of the earliest days of Scandinavian BM did Archgoat emerged one blasphemous eve, dripping with depravity and ready to Satanize everything and everyone in their path. The world of black metal has taken to their crimes with utter glee and why shouldn’t we? For no one does black metal like Archgoat, except of course for their countless emulators: Profanatica, Black Witchery, and Azazel to name a few. Get ready to immerse yourself in the very pits of Hell you’ve been conditioned to run away from. In 2021, Archgoat released Worship The Eternal Darkness via Debemur Morti. 

Imagine being right there in it: Hellish ritualistic fucking, great Daemons to oversee and calling forth the light of Lucifer to illuminate this orgy of defilement. And as the rats pray to their coward god, we the desolate ones revel in the pleasures of the flesh. Hear the sheep unnervingly bay to the sound of Satanized vixens who so eagerly offer up their flesh for Him during the intro. Renowned masters of visualization have Archgoat proven to be since their inception and this record is certainly no exception. 

Now, imagine a world free of Christianity: no crutches for anyone and no more fear of Hell, just all the room our species needs to grow ever more intelligent and ever wiser. A utopia! And one alive with the sound of lowly, grimy, and fucking brutal black metal a la “All Christianity Ends” - ring their own church bells to signify the end before we turn around and burn them all to the fucking ground in the name of Satan - His Infernal Majesty… 

“Blessed In the Light of Lucifer” - divine crepuscular rays to illuminate the skies above us as we so boldly writhe in the ecstasy of the pits below. And Satan himself to call him forth. Another brilliant visualization set to all those gut-churning riffs and oppressive rhythms we’ve come to know so well. Within “Worship the Eternal Darkness”. You’ll discover - underneath all of the brutality and filth - a fairly conventional Finnish black metal album, particularly as you take in “In Extremis Nazarene” and the titular track, as both just ring in those familiar Suomi tones. Instead of making comparisons to other Finnish BM bands, we can hear how Archgoat has basically influenced every single Finn under the Black Mark since the beginning. You can hear a little Horna, some Sargeist, and a touch of Satanic Warmaster in every progression through each ungodly passage. Even a bit of greasy black-and-roll action during “Rats Pray God”. 

There’s so much more to this band than what you initially get at surface level. Dig a few feet past the savagery and you’ll find rich melodicism, haunting atmospheric elements, and masterful compositions as realized by one of black metal’s ultimate power trios. This is shit that intimidates. Play it loud in your car with the windows down and check out the looks you get. Fucking pure danger, fucking pure gold as it was in the days of yore when black metal struck dread into the hearts of churchgoers who feared for the sanctity of their places of worship. Overlords of the Scandinavian scene are Archgoat and their reign is one that has been both celebrated and criminally overlooked. One of THE original second-wave black metal bands alongside Mayhem, Darkthrone, and Rotting Christ. And their music only sweetens with age - a bold vintage spiked with virgin nectar and just as sweet as sin. Arguably the greatest of all time and true champions of the Satanic path. Hail Archgoat!

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Alex on November 25, 2021.

Erect, energetic, testosterone bloated, and bloody evil is how Worship The Eternal Darkness will have you feeling. For me there's always been black metal, death metal and then Archgoat somewhere in there but also far away from the accepted norm. That's because they can be so easily identified, no other band sounds like the Finnish tormentors; and if any band should try to copy, they would fall flat and embarrass themselves because Archgoat is more than just a template of sounds. So long ago they were formed and here today they still sit at the throne of genre that has become so over saturated with alleged black metal that has removed HIS name and replaced it with nothing. Archgoat has remained true to what black metal is and Worship The Eternal Darkness further anoints the masses with the ointment of what Archgoat represent and embody.

It’s an Archgoat album so you know what to expect, only the deepest roars from Lord Angelslayer whilst his brother Ritual Butcherer lay down the 6-string nuisance. The drummer has also has somewhat cemented his place in Archgoat as a fitting musician; his work here truly shines and appears to be played with certainty and authority in contrast to the Luciferian Crown, that seemed to be just feeling around for a good stance. But even then, the material on that album as a while sounded solid but here on Worship The Eternal Darkness, there's absolute clarity of what needs to be done and how it should be executed.

It’s a masters ball game, Archgoat have been doing it for a long fucking time, they even took a hiatus and came back only to find that no one could dare replicate the sound and feeling they conjure. Such fucking demonic incantations and evil expressed with nasty offerings in the form of 'Heavens Ablaze', 'Black Womb Gnosis' and the skin crawling, hair standing, black/thrash n' roll fused 'Rats Pray God'. Total destruction from the Finnish syndicate of sickness, no bullshit, just pure fucking Archgoat.

Also, a bit more happening it seems on Worship The Eternal Darkness; synth added, more diverse compositions, greater flow from side A to side B, and a whole lot more fury captured, just check out the speed of 'Empyrean Armageddon' and the lynching sample that sounds so much more painful than the one heard on the split with Satanic Warmaster, 'Lux Satanae (Thirteen Hymns of Finnish Devil Worship)'. Then the steam jumps through the roof with 'Blessed In The Light Of Lucifer'; man, this fucking album makes a statement as far as black metal goes; Archgoat shows all the mislead how it is supposed to be played. Exalt the fucking kings, Archgoat.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10