It happens. I go through spurts, burn myself out bleeding some poor, hapless musical genre dry and then leech onto another, returning to my victims for chance encounters.

Anyway, I hadn’t been digging on any of my death metal in the past months and then a few weeks back I got to see Behemoth, Suffocation, Black Dahlia Murder and Cattle Decapitation in Detroit. Fucking woke my ass right back up like a zinger and the next day I flipped on the new Belphegor disc Goatreich Fleshcult. Right moment, right time. This is such a badass album. Seriously, I first heard of this band when Jerry Battle over at World War 3 was working their campaign. I got this fucked up looking promo with this naked chick cut up and covered in blood with this insane looking goat skull over her melon. One of the best black metal covers ever, easily. Anyway, it wasn’t anything that special. It was raw, had some decent keyboard textures, but didn’t stand out at all. Next I heard was this Lucifer Incestus disc where Satan was banging the shit out of these demon nuns. That disc was a killer advancement from the goathead days. But now we have Goatreich, and the nunfuckery can piss right off.

Anyway, point is this is solid, no frills, no bullshit, no female vocals, no foofy production values, no keyboards. Just pure, hyperviolent blackened death metal that crushes every damn thing in its path. You like Behemoth? Séance? Anaal Nathrakh? Decapitated? Dying Fetus? This is Austrian beast worshipping of the highest order. Occultist mania, swarming rats, technological Satan. Fucking get it now.

Rating: 9/10 Review by Ryan Bartek - Metal Mayhem (uk)