Sometimes it does happen that the sum is more than the addition of the individual parts. And once that happens, no one is disappointed. The Royal Arch Blaspheme is an illustrious example of such concept in the field of blackened thrash metal. Or, is it deathy blackened thrash? Oh, well, who cares what kind of label this extreme concoction will bear, if the result is one sick distinct entry.

The individual parts of this evilness are none other than N. Imperial (Krieg and so many other influential acts) on vocals and John Gelso (Profanatica) on all instruments. The 39 min of this ROYAL assault is the soundtrack of thousand machetes hacking body parts instead of sugarcane in some southern Banana Republic. This is the stuff to chop thy neighbor to pieces if your disdain for the poor fellow can’t be contained any further. The ear bleeding solos, the sharp hitting rhythms, the buzzsaw guitars, the dense overARCHing BLASPHEMOUS atmosphere – the familiar sounds of hell beckoning you. And when the duo bleeds in some melodic Dismember harmony into the frantic pulsating grind (Isaiah 14:12, Lust and Sacrilege), the result is simply devastating and overwhelming. It is if the nasty ornery ghost cloud which was simply passing by on its way to a bigger prey, now decided to snack on you, and here you are, breathing in and suffocating on its billowy grey smoke. It eats you up inside, suffocating, convulsing, leaving a sack of shapeless skin, where previously was flesh and bones. The slower tracks (Via Crusis, Kingdom of Perversions) are not necessarily rawer, but doomier and more apocalyptic, they prophesize the upcoming end of the world. The voices in Kingdom of Perversions are of those fallen angels slowly melting away in the crucibles of underground. Yup, that is the end, when everything finally succumbs under its macabre weight, but the guiding light on the way there is one wretched voice of N. Imperial himself. The music like this does not need a choir. The main Fallen Angel of them all must have been an individualistic creature.

The Royal Arch Blaspheme has a lot in it for metal fans of all walks of life. If you are a poser, turn this on to scare your friends and co-workers. If you are an individual of good health, and want to feel what the bout of oncoming epilepsy might feel like, put the album on. But if you are a true fan of the extreme genre, a genuine trance awaits you.