Review by Alex on September 24, 2018.

Archgoat had begun to climb the ladder since their 2006 full-length release Whore of Bethlehem with each full length album following it taking on a much cleaner production than its predecessors. What was also noticeable since the bands inception is their ability to maintain the same 3 piece lineup with the addition of a sampler keyboardist. On The Luciferian Crown the drummer is replaced only for the second time in the 17 years of Archgoat’s existence. With this change new ideas are breathed into the ceremony.

The music on this latest offering still has the Archgoat signature stench; however, the band has incorporated some elements not commonly heard on their previous efforts. The approach is a bit more versatile due to these elements being added, such as the synthesized choir and electronic background samples. The choir had been introduced on previous records such as The Apocalyptic Triumphator but only in small portions, on The Luciferian Crown its presence is more noticeable and dominant than ever. As mentioned earlier, Archgoat’s production began to undergo changes that has made their sound far cleaner than on their demos and Ep's, this change is still the case on this latest record in which has a very clean and professional sound comparable to their 2016 album. Lord Angelslayer’s voice still has that evil growl many have come to use as a key identifier of Archgoat’s sound. Ritual Butcherer is still menacing on his guitars in his dispatching of riffing devilry and the new drummer, Goat Aggressor, shows that he is capable of playing the traditional Archgoat way. The keyboard sections played by Diabolus Sylvarum adds a sinister coating to the already fast and heinous attack. The common mid-tempoed elements are still prevalent on The Luciferian Crown as on other blasphemies but is used more frequently on this venture. 

The Luciferian Crown has a special flow, something that I haven’t heard by Archgoat on other records. Fast double bass kicking has made its way into the realm in the form of "Messiah of Pigs" and a very diverse playing style almost rock and punk fused is ushered in by Archgoat on "Darkness Has Returned". It’s good to see the band trying new things in small portions, this gives the ritual a feeling of unpredictability as it spins below the needle. "Star of Darkness and Abyss" is definitely the highlight track for me, it’s versatile in its pacing and has all of the Archgoat goodies you love about the band with the addition of the earlier mentioned fast double kicks. Its positioned at the right spot on the track-listing and feels like a re-introduction or a new chapter in the band’s existence. With so much occurring on The Luciferian Crown, it’s hard to compare this record to previous entries by Archgoat which is a good thing, as it shows constant evolution of the song writing techniques used by the band. However, this is still Archgoat, their identity remains perfectly intact whilst being complimented by newer refining ingredients. The Goat has returned with spiked shiny hooves and even more crooked horns. 

Horned impalements/Jewels within the crown:

• “Messiah of Pigs”
• “Darkness Has Returned”
• “Sorcery and Doom”
• “Star of Darkness and Abyss”
• “The Luciferian Crown (Venom of God)”

Rating: 8.4 out of 10

Review by Alex on September 24, 2018.

The two primary outlining factors that comprise a good or even decent speed metal album (for me) are…... well…….. speed and guitar solos. Unfortunately for Outline one key element is missing, that being the guitar solos. Though not the only problem Fire Whiplash is confronted by, the absence of this key entity comes at a huge disadvantage for Outline. Not only does it make Fire Whiplash seem like an insufficient and lazy performance, it questions the band’s passion for the genre if they are genuinely zealous about composing speed metal. For just 22 minutes of material Fire Whiplash cannot be seen as a full length offering. Personally I consider a full length speed metal album to be at least 30 minutes with 35 minutes of playing time being the maximum. 22 minutes of no guitar solos and a few fast songs is not ideally convincing especially for a newly formed band that wishes to make their imprint onto the genre’s slate. I felt as though I was listening to a gore-grind version of speed metal, the kind of gore-grind album that has 20 songs, each baring 1:45 seconds of insipidness. Also one must take into consideration that Outline had released a demo in 2017 titled Fire Whiplash which features 5 of the 8 songs featured on this so called ‘debut full length’. This isn’t a good look for Outline given that only 3 new songs were added to their 2018 Hell’s HeadBangers debut album, those being; “Black Eyed Devil”, “The Assassin” and “Hell Squad” which don’t offer much at all and are not nearly as memorable as “Away From You” and “Lady Teaser”, in which are slow to an extent and can be found on the 2017 Fire Whiplash demo.

The exclusion of guitar solos is unacceptable; not sure if this musical decision materialized subconsciously or whether it was intentional; nevertheless, this absence is unforgivable; It’s like a pizza devoid of cheese or a rainbow without blue, red and green, it just doesn’t work. Doing this only makes the band seem diffident or tentative in that particular field and even places a blemish on the band as a collaborative unit. For it is usually the guitar solos that determine whether or not the music has any coherence particularly within the genre of speed metal.

A promotional video for the track “Lady Teaser” was released in which highlighted the stereotypes as I expected; the alcoholism and hot metal chicks were in full display in all the petite leather lust. I can see why this was necessary, thus given the music on Fire Whiplash is clearly not convincing enough to be labelled as a genuine and competent speed metal album. 

There is one positive take away from Fire Whiplash, that being the vocals of the front woman. As bad as many people think they are, I admire the shit out of them. Her vocals sound very organic and raspy, her mid-range highs have a sort of sexual wailing that I like as though she is about to achieve an orgasm. Hearing her style of screaming got me really hard really fast. They even sound to be veering towards the good cheesy side of Karaoke, especially on the track “Away From You”. As much as I like her vocal delivery there is no way they compensate for the lack-luster overall performance. I cannot score Fire Whiplash highly especially when there are actual speed metal bands such as Evil Invaders, Metalian and Black Magic (Norway) who have exhibited nothing short of brilliance in their musical compositions. As of now Outline is nothing more than a watered down version of speed metal in my opinion, perhaps they can be labelled as a speed core band until they decide to get serious.

Rating: 1.8 out of 10 

Review by Alex on September 24, 2018.

The two primary outlining factors that comprise a good or even decent speed metal album (for me) are…... well…….. speed and guitar solos. Unfortunately for Outline one key element is missing, that being the guitar solos. Though not the only problem Fire Whiplash is confronted by, the absence of this key entity comes at a huge disadvantage for Outline. Not only does it make Fire Whiplash seem like an insufficient and lazy performance, it questions the band’s passion for the genre if they are genuinely zealous about composing speed metal. For just 22 minutes of material Fire Whiplash cannot be seen as a full length offering. Personally I consider a full length speed metal album to be at least 30 minutes with 35 minutes of playing time being the maximum. 22 minutes of no guitar solos and a few fast songs is not ideally convincing especially for a newly formed band that wishes to make their imprint onto the genre’s slate. I felt as though I was listening to a gore-grind version of speed metal, the kind of gore-grind album that has 20 songs, each baring 1:45 seconds of insipidness. Also one must take into consideration that Outline had released a demo in 2017 titled Fire Whiplash which features 5 of the 8 songs featured on this so called ‘debut full length’. This isn’t a good look for Outline given that only 3 new songs were added to their 2018 Hell’s HeadBangers debut album, those being; “Black Eyed Devil”, “The Assassin” and “Hell Squad” which don’t offer much at all and are not nearly as memorable as “Away From You” and “Lady Teaser”, in which are slow to an extent and can be found on the 2017 Fire Whiplash demo.

The exclusion of guitar solos is unacceptable; not sure if this musical decision materialized subconsciously or whether it was intentional; nevertheless, this absence is unforgivable; It’s like a pizza devoid of cheese or a rainbow without blue, red and green, it just doesn’t work. Doing this only makes the band seem diffident or tentative in that particular field and even places a blemish on the band as a collaborative unit. For it is usually the guitar solos that determine whether or not the music has any coherence particularly within the genre of speed metal.

A promotional video for the track “Lady Teaser” was released in which highlighted the stereotypes as I expected; the alcoholism and hot metal chicks were in full display in all the petite leather lust. I can see why this was necessary, thus given the music on Fire Whiplash is clearly not convincing enough to be labelled as a genuine and competent speed metal album. 

There is one positive take away from Fire Whiplash, that being the vocals of the front woman. As bad as many people think they are, I admire the shit out of them. Her vocals sound very organic and raspy, her mid-range highs have a sort of sexual wailing that I like as though she is about to achieve an orgasm. Hearing her style of screaming got me really hard really fast. They even sound to be veering towards the good cheesy side of Karaoke, especially on the track “Away From You”. As much as I like her vocal delivery there is no way they compensate for the lack-luster overall performance. I cannot score Fire Whiplash highly especially when there are actual speed metal bands such as Evil Invaders, Metalian and Black Magic (Norway) who have exhibited nothing short of brilliance in their musical compositions. As of now Outline is nothing more than a watered down version of speed metal in my opinion, perhaps they can be labelled as a speed core band until they decide to get serious.

Rating: 1.8 out of 10