Death Conquers All

I actually decided to listen to this album because Hellgoat is playing a show near the area I live sometime next month, and I am considering going. I loved the band name, for some reason it had a strange sort of draw to it (especially the logo). They're described as a black metal band, but they sound more like a blackened death metal band to be honest. This is their second album, and it is pretty damn good. It is nothing original at all, it certainly is no Deathspell Omega or Akercocke, but is is pretty fucking evil and it is pretty much what I expected. The atmosphere on this album reminds me of De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas meets Blessed Are the Sick meets Raining Blood. It is just completely and utterly unholy.

The riffs themselves are well written and sound just as good as any other band. The song Ordained by the Master's Hand reminded me of something off of Satanica by Behemoth if that album were a bit blacker. All the songs are pretty much played at 1000 miles per hour with the occasional slow down, but it is the same throughout the whole album. I've heard faster albums before (Lucifer Incestus), but they way that they arranged the riffs to work with the speed works quite well I think. Had this album been any faster then it would have sounded a bit off-putting.

The vocals are your typical black/death metal demon shriek. It sounds really good, though, and when the shrieks are layered with the growling it sounds very well done. They don't overdo the layering like modern Deicide or whatever, but they use it only when needed. The drums don't really stand out much, but they aren't bad at all. They work well with the music and don't take away anything.

I'd give this album an 83 overall. It is very good in my opinion, but if you really look at it, it's also pretty unoriginal (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). I'd recommend it to anyone interested in some good, evil sounding black metal, but don't expect something groundbreaking or avant-garde.