Arrogant Destruktor are a UK black metal act that's apparently been destroying eardrums for a while now, but their 2023 effort, Written in Blood from the Blade, is the first I've heard of them. I had no idea what to expect from that name, but I wouldn't say there's much arrogance here, just machine-gun blast beats and buzzsaw tremolo riffs so deeply rooted in the second-wave sound that you'd expect the ghost of Euronymous to hover near the speaker and nod with approval. You get the expected raw, unrelenting cuts like the one-two punch of opener "Dirt and Ruin" and "Bestial Ritual," but the band really shines when they slow down and focus more on melody, like "The Call of the Dead," the brief instrumental "Mourning the Lost Symphonies," and the title track. Production-wise, it's raw enough to have teeth without sounding like it was recorded in someone's closet, so you can actually discern what's going on with the various layers, and it all comes together to make for a fun time while it's on.

The biggest problem is simply that this has all been done before by countless other bands. As competent as this is, I can really only recommend this album to diehard fans of '90s black metal that aren't so arrogant as to demand novelty or identity. Otherwise, you have about a hundred other albums you could go to for the same experience, and about half are higher quality than this. Better luck next time, guys.