Finnish hellraisers Archgoat have been merrily blaspheming since 1989, remarkably, and still sound like a band at the demo stage in terms of audio quality. Not that this is a bad thing for the band's brand of raw black terror, full of Satanic grimness and hatred of all things sacred, if not quite as explicitly nun-buggering as the likes of Nunslaughter. And full-length number three is just the thing to see in the new year, a grimy, doom-filled dirge of misanthropy. It's blatantly vicious, full of blastbeats and croaky growls, guitars a wall of noise, but surprisingly The Apocalyptic Triumphator has its share of subtleties, too. As you'd expect, it's very atmospheric and dark, first track proper Nuns, Cunts, & Darkness battling along savagely, but the tolling bells and keyboards behind the churning riffs make this a more worshipful form of attack.

And that air of darkness continues throughout the album, which is quite listenable and flows very well. Divided into two halves for each side of vinyl (although also available on CD), The Apocalyptic Triumphator starts each half with an intro piece, named Left Hand Path and Right Hand Path accordingly, and each does its job well – I couldn't discern much difference between the 'sides', but it adds extra kvlt value, as if this were needed. The likes of Light of Phosphorus towards the end of the album are as gripping and effective as the earlier tracks, and the quality is at a high throughout.

It's hard to go into too much depth on the music of Archgoat, since this is very much a 'does what it says on the tin' band, but the slower, doomier pace of Grand Luciferian Theophany stood out as being especially effective, even throwing war drums in to make their war on heaven all the more cinematic, whilst Sado-Magical Portal turns almost to grind in its chugging speed and heaviness. This is far from simplistic blasting, and will please the ears of any black or death metal fan with an ear for the occult - and is certainly more enjoyable than the last thing I heard from, say, Black Witchery.