Antichrist Siege Machine - Purifying Blade (2021)^{Release ID: 31500}

Richmond's Antichrist Siege Machine unleash a withering hail of suppressing fire with this, their sophomore full-length that will have anyone caught in it's firing line running for cover. In other words, this is high-casualty war metal that should successfully satisfy fans of the genre. It does have higher production values than the classic releases of the nineties from the likes of Blasphemy and Beherit, so that muddy, fog-of-war sound is lost and the music has to deliver in the light of this sonic clarity. This, I think it manages successfully, still sounding filthy, but without descending into a total wall of noise. For me, a really good example of a genre that may have had it's heyday but can still deliver exciting and exhilharating metal when done right.