The Goatess of Stockholm
The doom metal god
Christian Linderson and his co-members formed this project in 2009
and in July 2013, Goatess released their first album. A work that
will please most doom fans since it's mixing a lot of different
influences. Despite their juvenile name, they truly
deliver the goods on their self titled album and are offering one of
the finest doom metal album of the year. Svart records knows who to
sign and it's another good catch of the Finnish label.
You have no reasons
to ignore this album if you're a fan of
Chritus' old bands, be it Count Raven, Saint Vitus or his current
other current project Lord Vicar (led by Kimi Kärki formerly of Reverend Bizarre). His vocals, a
true representative of the classical age of traditional doom metal are as
good as ever. His delivery, full of nuances is an underrated jewel of
Sweden. Stop praising this old rubbish singer trying to make a buck
in Black Sabbath and listen to what's really honest and well done. The
songwriting is both rooted in doom and stoner metal. Nodding to trad
doom, Sleep and Kyuss, it's nowhere near a safe album as far as doom
is concerned, the oriental influences of ''Tentacles of Zen'' were
very fun to hear and I almost wish they were more present throughout
the album. They reminded me of Kingston Wall, this amazing now
defunct progressive/psychedelic rock band from Finland.
The quartet lineup really works here, one fuzzy guitar is enough to keep me interested. It's also quite influenced by the psychedelic rock/metal movement that has invaded doom this past decade with bands like Naam, Blood Ceremony or Om embracing the LSD ridden rock of their ancestors. The songs are all pretty long, the album is culminating with two long ass ten to twelve minutes tracks and that's totally fine with me since it's a band who knows how to put atmosphere first. The album is a bit too lengthy though with almost seventy minutes of material but that's a mild criticism since everything is quite strong on it. It perhaps need some tightening at some places but it's a very soothing doom album to listen to. I prefer that over the not even thirty five minutes last Vitus album, I had to listen to So Long Suckers after this one because I was still hungry.
The quartet lineup really works here, one fuzzy guitar is enough to keep me interested. It's also quite influenced by the psychedelic rock/metal movement that has invaded doom this past decade with bands like Naam, Blood Ceremony or Om embracing the LSD ridden rock of their ancestors. The songs are all pretty long, the album is culminating with two long ass ten to twelve minutes tracks and that's totally fine with me since it's a band who knows how to put atmosphere first. The album is a bit too lengthy though with almost seventy minutes of material but that's a mild criticism since everything is quite strong on it. It perhaps need some tightening at some places but it's a very soothing doom album to listen to. I prefer that over the not even thirty five minutes last Vitus album, I had to listen to So Long Suckers after this one because I was still hungry.
The
bass is loud and in your face and it's appreciated, doom needs to be
bassy and loud as fuck. The drums stay simple as they should be, why
should they be complicated when they can be slow and feelsy like
that ? The riffs are catchy when they're on more mid paced
tracks like the excellent opener ''Know Your Animal'' and emotional
for the lengthier songs. Contemplative while not losing their
pertinence, they have this old school vibe that I love. Still, the
highlight of this album is the vocals, they were personally the
reason I decided to check the band and I don't regret it. Chritus'
vocals are restrained and are giving the music the occasion to grow.
They can be powerful when it needs to be but it rarely needs to since this album keeps this relaxing attitude
A
very good doom album with nice stoner elements is what we have here.
If you like your doom slow, rich and soothing, check out Goatess and
kiss their ring. Their brand of baby demon music is interesting
although grounded in the past.
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