The name, Lightning Swords of Death, calls to mind stoner doom moreso than black metal, but alas that is what we have here. LSoD’s sound rings with dashes of great bands like Watain, Marduk, even with hints of Celtic Frost, however, at least, with this release LSoD can’t quite compete with those heavy hitters. Not to say this is a bad album by any means, Baphometic Chaosium simply isn’t amazing, but will get you banging your head nonetheless.

The album begins with a sort of processional build-up with Autarch’s vocals beckoning you quickly into their ritual’s chambers before the riffing takes off. The title track does everything well enough on paper, but sonically it seems subdued, lulling you into a coziness that the other tracks upset. Acidgate pulls that rug out from underneath you, opening with a scream and fury that doesn’t relent for the next few minutes, being trumped by a distant chant that takes center stage as the music slows to a crawl. As the tracks progresses, the music builds up to the intensity that it had lost set up against the eerie howls of the chants. Psychic Waters, the next track, treats the listener to winding, spiraling tremolo riffs, reminiscent of Deathspell Omega while never quite approaching the dissonance that those French have perfected. An interlude, Cloven Shields, follows that reminds me of the keyboard on old horror and sci fi films, a track that provides a moment of relief prior to the second act. R’Lyeh Wuurm is the standout track of the album; standard Marduk-ian blastbeats with a galloping riff that might be the most infectious groove on the album before descending into a vortex of tremoloing. The rawness and haunting vocals of Epicyclarium give the track a distinct Celtic Frost vibe, prior to the midpoint shifting gears and entering full De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas mode with the belched vocals and blasting drums.

Baphometic Chaosium never does anything more than you hope for and nothing less than what you want. All the usual tropes of references to Satanism and invoking Lovecraftian mythos amount to an effort most closely resembling what Angelcorpse were putting out prior to their split albeit LSoD has way crisper production. Like Angelcorpse, as great as they were, this album has trouble standing out in my mind, something I enjoy when I listen to it without ever giving me an itch to listen to it. Maybe I just like my USBM a little more ‘hip’, but LSoD released a decent enough album that isn’t enough to keep me swooning after the first few weeks of spins.