The first 90 seconds of “To Lay Siege and Conquer” by BLASPHEMOUS come on like modern Doom Metal but then very quickly shifts into a Blackened Death Metal. Lots of bottom, furious pace, but tempered with tremolo and demonic rasping. That was my first impression of BLASPHEMOUS, the Philly/Jersey extreme metal quintet. It was a lasting impression.

To be clear, there have been lot of extreme metal bands called BLASPHEMOUS. I’m counting six, three of which are still active. One in Brazil, one in Indonesia, and one in the US. So at least they’re separated by a few land masses and lots of water. This particular BLASPHEMOUS, the one from US, formed over 20 years ago in 2003 and has one EP and four full-length albums to their credit. Their fourth LP, “To Lay Siege and Conquer,” was released on October 25, 2024 via Adirondack Black Mass. It’s a solid slab of Blackened Death—heavy and blunt, with few distinguishing features . . . I mean, other than its heaviness and bluntness, which for Blackened Death are two the key features you gotta have, so not a bad thing.

Seven tracks, 30 minutes. Some cool cover art by Misanthropic Art—oddly content looking king sitting on a crude throne with an even cruder crown atop his head. His throne is in the middle of field laid to waste with dismembered and impaled knights. Smoke on the horizon. And one big gaping hole where his right eye should be, but even so the non-eye seems to be looking straight at you. Creepy, that. And maybe that’s a good way to describe the album—Unflinching.

Having one foot in the Death Metal door, the album is fairly well produced. There’s a lot of db pumping through those amps and it takes some art to capture them without just bleeding into the red the whole time, so kudos to the sound engineers. Best tracks will vary according to tastes, but I leaned toward the title track, “To Lay Siege and Conquer.” I dig that doomish intro. “Curse of the Witchchrist” also has a distinctive intro showcasing some classy fingering on those frets, but what I really love about the track is the second half when the band gets outright savage. Best line: “At dusk / I flail your fucking flesh.” Last on my list is “Martyr Complex.” Just a heavy, well-proportioned beast with a great thrashy break at the three-minute mark.

I can’t say “To Lay Siege and Conquer” is a terribly inventive album, but it is consistent. If you like your Blackened Death Metal with no spoiler influences like Symph or Atmospheric, this album might be your poison.