Blasphemous is a Philadelphia-area blackened death metal band, and “Bearer of the Darkest Plagues” is their sophomore album. This USBM outfit is one that distinguishes itself from the scores of USBM bands who bog down in a blur of one-dimensional songwriting and middling musicianship. The musical style of ‘Bearer of the Darkest Plagues’ is a healthy mixture of death metal rhythms that do little to hide a Morbid Angel influence and a furious assault of blast beats and dark melodic guitars heavily influenced by  mid 80’s and early 90’s extreme metal.

‘Bearer of the Darkest Plagues’ clocks 55 minutes which makes for an acutely laborious listening experience. Nonetheless their brand of black metal is raw and straight-up which may not get approval from the genre purists but it does make heads turn. The album artwork is fantastic and really sets the grim mood for the whole listening experience.

Blasphemous utilize a certain amount of technicality and speed in their sound, but it seems at times that they are struggling a bit mainly due to the drummer,who has trouble keeping up with the rest of the band. Their songwriting is well above par by black metal standards, but far from polished.  The mid-range production style consisting of a slightly murky sound contributes positively to the atmosphere but it lacks the punch. The vocalist has a decent voice, but his delivery pretty much consists of a dispassionate, almost spoken word style, lacking any real emotion which leads to a problematic monotony over the course of the album’s too-long running time. Aavistus’ skill as a lead guitarist is a definite high point of the album, making Bearer of the Darkest Plagues a standout for his work alongside his band mates.

It is a reasonably well done album and will appeal to anyone with more than a passing interest in the genre. Recommended.

Review by: Nishant Saxena