Louisiana’s extreme metal crafters Goatwhore have been around for over 25 years in existence and have released great albums throughout their career. This is the follow-up to 2017’s Vengeful Ascension which was a album that I did quite enjoy front to back. Now in 2022 and fast forwarding five years later, Angels Hung From The Arches Of Heaven is perhaps the band’s tightest, most cohesive and structured records they’ve done to date. Musically, if you know Goatwhore’s style their known for blending multiple genres including death, black and thrash metal with lyricism reflecting on satanic and anti religious themes which not only makes the album dark, blackened and brutal but I also do believe that this album is a much more refined and better produced sounding record than Vengeful Ascension. Going into this album in comparison to past Goatwhore records, this is where the members of the band really stepped up their game left to right into having these wonderfully crafted timed signatures well as the instrumentation work here is very fulfilling and satisfying.
From the guitars giving a blasphemous effect, drums being relentless at times and bass and vocal deliveries giving it everything it has to offer, the music is heavy, blackened, and the arrangements feels more natural and comforting where I can sense these melodic passages give it a groove aesthetic in which from my opinion, the tracks do such a good job keeping every instrument feel appropriately fitting where it should be. Songs like Born Of Satan’s Flesh, Death From Above and the title track for example features guttural choruses, crossover styled melodies, haunting and bone-chilling atmospheric layerings and the overwhelming emotions to have the listener descending into the abyss of esoteric and biblical messages really sets the mood to become unsettling and as intense as any other Goatwhore records sounded in the past. I also do give alot of praise for it’s lyrical content that not only this is some of the strongest songwriting in recent memory from the band but the concept fits the territory so naturally well. Not only am I very pleased enjoying this musical journey front to back, Angels Hung From The Arches Of Heaven is an explorative and core essence album that takes Goatwhore’s music even further and the wait was definitely worth it.
Overall score. 8.5/10
Review by Jake Butler
