Black Metal History Month - Goatmoon :"What Once Was Shall Be Again"

 This is the 7th album by the Finnish one man black metal project. Blackgoat takes most of the credit though this time around he has ample session players helping him out. This gives the album's sounds a fuller more organic feel. While the aggressive riffing maintains a hooky glue to hold the songs together this  is on the rawer and heavier side of black metal, despite it's more thrashing traditional metal influence. There are moments of rock n roll guitar solos, and head banging section that owe more to Juda Priest than Burzum. I think black metal should be melodic enough to hold it's own in the songwriting department along side other sub genres. 

"Breastfed By Reptiles" keeps a similar balance. When I put on head phones I got a better feel for the album's production value which has everything dialed in rather than going for a cvlt feel. This album does have it's fair share of blast beats. The tropes of black metal are in place though balanced by the more NWOBHM feel. The most extreme element of this album is the shrieked vocals. That is not to say they are not angry enough to play at a pretty rapid pace. The faster sections are just balance out by more deliberate head banging sections. The vocals however remain at a constant level of anguish. 

"Rodent Throne" starts off with a catchier riff and then they get lost in their wrathful lashing out. Their speed almost gets the best of them, but they still manage to not trip over their own feet. Half way into the song they slow for a few bars of a really cool riff, which is something they have leaned into more. The title track sets the epic atmosphere of  a more folk feel against the feral sneer that dominates this album. The screaming could stand to be more articulated. This might be just a stylistic choice. The spoken word parts might not be necessary if the vocals controlled the narrative more. 

"Trinity" finds the guitars staying in their tremolo driven buzz. The layered folk melodies feel similar in theme to the previous song's. You can almost understand the lyrics if you listen close enough. After the sound effects the last song has more of a punk feel. For whatever perceived reason I do not expect this album to get a great deal of coverage from the mainstream metal press. I guess black metal can not be too hateful for them, and should be spreading love. They are commend for the zeal which they pursue this and it proves to be song focused even after the angry lashing the songs are give by the snarling vocals. I will give this an 8.5. Coming out on Werewolf Records.