~
Fuck
Jesus
Christ
~
Howling blasphemies at the cross and pissing in the face of all holiness comes the true cult Swedish hatelord HELLGOAT. Creating black metal warfare since 2015, sole practitioner Skoll (also active in Jarnvidr, SlaughterCoffin, Wan, Woldzverke and Condemnatory) vomits forth a rigid, feral and uncompromising expulsion of primal orthodoxy that often walks a similar tightrope to that of early Scandinavian flames like Marduk etc; if done poorly, the onslaught risks berating the listener into boredom… but if mastered, it can summon hell like no other. With teeth and knives bared, eyes blazing and blood seething with murderous intent, HellGoat‘s Goatfather is definitely the latter.
First, I have to apologize – mentioning Marduk might have thrown you off a little. Those expecting the same level of production should turn away right now, because GoatFather is gloriously raw. Technically speaking, the production is akin to primitive black beacons of old: pestilent vocals and relentless drums sit higher in the mix whilst the guitar exists as a malignant buzz, producing a constant stream of venomous traditional Scandinavian riffwork that’s uncomplicated, yet irresistibly diabolical in nature. It’s all immediately atmospheric whilst remaining the complete antithesis of the idea. There’s no bass to be found, either – guitar, drums and vocals are all Skoll needs to unleash his torrent of scorn upon us all, and if the cover art of an anthropomorphic goat about to cave in the skull of Christ with a fuck-off huge spiked club to splatter the brains of the feeble, lying son of God in chunks on the floor doesn’t tell you what you’re in for throughout this demo, then I don’t know what else to say.
Yes, press play on the opening title track ‘GoatFather’ and the record promptly gets to the good stuff: an old-school hammering black metal conflagration, raping every angel in heaven and reveling in the death and destruction of all human life. Delicious tape-hiss coats everything as clattering percussion drives the track onwards through a solid three minutes and fourteen seconds of slaughter, with only the briefest of pauses to catch your breath… but who needs breath anyway? After that initial salvo, ‘Invoking Dark Spells’ hints that while the aim of the game is indeed blistering, relentless slaughter, HellGoat is far more than that. The onslaught is still as merciless and unrelenting as it should be but nuances in the drumming begin to rear their heads; and while the song structures are simple, they’re fucking fire and do exactly what is needed for maximum impact.
‘Praise The Dark Lord’ (linked above for your delectation) is total worship. We’re even treated to the sounds of some wretched soul being devoured by the flames of hell before its final throes, and the screams of agony perfectly sum up the attitude of HellGoat: burn and fucking die. ‘Fuck Jesus Christ’ is up next, and after the blitzkrieg of the first few tracks its punkish infernal stomp hits with the same energy as ‘War’ did when you listened through the Burzum self-titled album for the first time, or perhaps even ‘Possessed By Satan’ from Gorgoroth‘s Antichrist (if you’re old enough to remember those glorious days). Note that for that comparison I’m talking solely about its position and impact on the album – you’ll see what I mean when you hear it, and the track fucking rips. ‘The World Devoured’ is at first pure hatred and incinerating aggression, lazer-focused and snarling before switching gears into a slow, malicious and deliberate form of sleaze-ridden power (resplendent with a couple of well-placed UGH!‘s for emphasis). And then, the ultimate conclusion. The finale. ‘Eternal Flames of Hate’ is all cruel, ringing-chord atmosphere; a crawl through depravity, a wretched celebration of murder and death. The voice clip of infamous serial killer Richard Ramirez that closes the track is utterly chilling and as the knife slips between your ribs, the last thing you see are the blazing eyes of the GoatFather burning into your soul through the darkness.
Unleashing in 66 copies on cassette via the ineffable Elderblood Productions November 6th, the mighty ‘Praise The Dark Lord’ at the Soundcloud link above is the only track streaming so far. As for the rest, take my word for it – if your spirit resonates with the previous obsidian gems that Elderblood has recently dug up from the underground, you won’t want to miss this. Fuck you, fuck God, fuck everything and all. This is a war on life… and HellGoat have already won. Hails.
RATING: 4 / 5
GoatFather releases November 6th via Elderblood Productions.
~
Purchase Goatfather digitally from the Elderblood Productions Bandcamp HERE and on cassette from the Elderblood Productions Bigcartel HERE on November 6th 00:00 PDT.
Support HELLGOAT:
~
Like Black Metal Daily on Facebook for more cult sounds and tonal blasphemy.
Email: blackmetaldaily@outlook.com
Black Metal Daily 