The Royal Arch Blaspheme is the debut full-length studio effort from the band of the same name, The Royal Arch Blaspheme. This self-titled release is the work of just two men, N. Impaler who handles the vocals, while John Gelso handles everything else. So, with the now-becoming-a-stereotype two man army in place, the question next is will this album be what you would expect from just two minds with only one working with the instruments? The short answer is yes, but it's still not that bad an album.
While the music on The Royal Arch Blaspheme really isn't anything to go nuts over, it's not that bad a release at all. One of the flaws that sticks out right away is the production quality. While the vocals are loud enough to be heard well over the instruments, sometimes they will change around. They will either sound a bit higher then on a previous track, or, in the case of the second track, "Jahbulon", they could even come off far more hollow then they were. The same can be said for the music, as that same track, as soon as it starts, actually comes off more as a demo or live track then anything. Much of the drumming on this effort is about what you would expect from a generic Black Metal release, being a mid-tempo with rather snare and cymbol combos that typically hit along with the paced double bass kicks. However, there's a very faint sound of what could only be described as the sticks hitting a hard object at a distance from the microphone. Hopefully this solid object being struck is just another snare that is too far to be picked up, or podded down way too low in the mix. Either way, you can't really hear it until "Lust and Sacrilege", leaving you to sit and try to discern exactly what the hell that noise is. You could also hear them a bit in "Dead Eucharist" but not as well as the aforementioned track. After "Lust and Sacrilege", you will start picking up on that noise more and more through further listens.
The guitars here are not too bad, though the bass is rather low in the mix, causing the audio to sound a little higher pitched total during some songs. "Dead Eucharist" is really the first time you'll actually notice the bass do more then just hide in the background and play along with the guitar chords, but that's more of a joke due to the section of the song relying on the bass just being one note hit repeatedly until the end of the song. However, the guitar itself is rather enjoyable. While the chords used here aren't too out of the ordinary for any Black Metal release, there are some rather catchy riffs utilized that not only sound punishing, but often are the only aspects that push the song forward. "Ascension Lies" relies heavily on both the guitar and bass, as the drums just come off at a mid-paced march, being nothing more then the same snare and cymbols with double bass and the occasional other cymbol crash in between. This is actually one of the more important tracks off the release since it really does highlight the potential that the guitars have for the band, but as far as the drumming goes, a band member that focuses only on the drums and making them better is something The Royal Arch Blaspheme really do need to take into account.
Pretty much every track on here is alright. There isn't a single song on this release that you'd really want to skip over, and it really does make for a good random listen on thos rainy days when you just don't know what you want to listen to. Much of the music on here is actually performed well and is pretty solid from start to finish with no real surprises in the mix, just straight forward Black Metal when you can bypass some of the production issues. On your first go through, it'll seem a little tame and not really worth more time then what you invested into it, but once you hit some of the key tracks mentioned above where some of the once hidden elements of the album actually stand out and make you aware they exist, you'll enjoy the album more on later spins because you start to pick up on these things, making it all not sound as hollow or as empty in instrument performance as before. If you happen upon The Royal Arch Blaspheme, it's definitely worth picking up. Technical errors aside, it's still a strong release that Black Metal fans are going to enjoy.
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