Release Date: 2005 Record Label: Nuclear War Now Track list: |
Black Goat - Self-titled This is a bit of a random reissue, as I'm not entirely convinced that Black Goat have achieved the cult notoriety of some of Nuclear War Now's more celebrated resurrections, but considering how infallible label proprietor/head necromancer Yosuke's tastes have proven over the years, I picked this up after having missed the original blackmetal.com bootleg a few years ago. The name of the game here is rocking, thrashy black metal, synthesizing first and second wave sensibilities in a quasi Darkthrone fashion, while avoiding the 'Panzerfaust' worship popularized by outfits such as Vultyr, Thesyre and Horned Almighty. At the same time, they manage to marry droning Norse minimalism with unabashedly METAL moments without the disjointed, confused incoherence of Lord or Devastator. What results is a bonafide celebration of black metal's incarnations past and present, one that while slightly imperfect in parts, remains a triumph because of the ingénue that permeates its filth-encrusted membrane. The contents of this release were recorded live on radio in 1997, and as such there is a free-flowing spontaneity to the material here, catapulting the listener into a stuffy, claustrophobic radio booth free from the gadgetry and overdubs of a studio recording. Right from the get-go, there is an ominous Nordic mist surrounding the proceedings- Nagas Hellfarmer's caustic shrieks are strikingly similar to Nocturno Culto's, while the droning, repetitious structures alternately exhibit 'A Blaze In The Northern Sky' thrashiness and ethereal, spectral 'Aske'-esque minimalism, projecting these ideas through a bilious early Bathory template. Much like Dartkhrone and Bathory, the compositions here are fundamentally riff-oriented, and naturally, the riffs make the album both an enthralling and exasperating listen. While the fare on offer is typically good, sporadically excellent and fleetingly BRILLIANT (especially when the band transitions from a thrashier section into a droning, plodding passage adorned with layered, clean guitar), there are spots on the record where ideas seem recycled, and things get a tad too linear for my liking. The thrashy-opening-seguing-into- droning-dissonance-transitioning-into- early-Bathory-breakdown blueprint is employed liberally throughout, and certain tracks fail to conjure sufficient charm to render such redundancy irrelevant. That being said, the record is not short of great ideas, at times throwing an angular curveball into the largely single-minded monochromaticism- the quasi-Maiden speed lick that drives “Mortus Extremist” is great, as is the rocking yet bludgeoning Venom section that surfaces 2 minutes through. The riff that manifests itself 20 seconds through closer “Frozen Summer” is almost Diamond Head/Metallica-esque, morphing into a Celtic-leaning sub-Sabbat(UK) epic stomper that really kicks ass. In some senses, Black Goat share an aesthetic kinship with Toronto 's Megiddo, who ply a similarly vile, filth-crusted brand of nastiness that straddles the line between and first and second wave. Yet, Black Goat are somewhat more inclined towards the second wave, and hence for the most part are not quite as arresting as Megiddo (and what band is, really?), their structures at times meandering too much for their own good. I am baffled as to why this is the only existing recording of this band, as I have learned that they are still active today. Considering this recording is a whole 8 years old now, I would imagine Black Goat have had much time to streamline and sharpen the blunter dimensions of these songs, and given some work, it is quite likely that Black Goat will find itself amongst the VERY finest in today's underground.
September 7th, 2005 |
