Album Review: Plague Weaver - Ascendant Blasphemy
Reviewed by Paul Hutchings
Spawned as a solo project in 2018, Plague Weaver have evolved. The self-titled debut EP and 2020’s ‘Through the Sulphur Eyes’ displayed traditional black metal roots through a doom inspired atmosphere and having joined forces with singer JC, multi-instrumentalist RM has expanded the project, in this debut full-length that sees the band take the next steps on their journey.
It’s not pretty. ‘Ascendant Blasphemy’ is 38 minutes of desperately cold and harrowing grimness. The punishing, riff driven tracks are dominated by the inhuman roars that JC summons up from deep within. At times, he presents as possessed, such is the demonic delivery. Diversity isn’t always associated with this type of extreme music, but despite the necessary reliance on walls of intense riffage, the tempo and style does vary with equal mid and fast paced songs combining with some slower megalodons that crush with sheer doomy intensity.
It’s a challenge to stay in one place, As Ascendant Blasphemy refuse to follow any clear direction. The music provides a framework for JC’s uncontrolled rage. He howls and screams in seemingly continued torment, and whilst he seizes the attention, RM can wrestle it back with flashes of inspiration that may snag a few metal fans from outside the permafrost-soaked landscapes that Plague Weaver inhabit.
Tracks such as the ferocious ‘Lay Fire By Fire’, the crushing ‘Blood Runs Not’ with its mid-tempo pace and the spellbinding dark closing track ‘In Exitium Caeli’ with its almost oriental/ Eastern flavours. JC climaxing with further moaning and guttural roars to demonstrate a powerful unit that is intent on world domination. It’s ferocious, it’s fiery, and it burns.
