Goat Semen : "Ego Svm Satana"

The fact this band is from South America is going against them. Black Metal seems best served by the northern Europeans. You might think this is a racist statement , but history speaks for it's self and this album proves my point. Despite all the apparent underground  buzz this band generated from splits and live albums before launching this debut, they hold more in common with grind core and punk in the hyper flurry of dirt blasts they throw your way. The lyrics in their native tongue almost immediately brought to mind Brujería. The blackest thing about them is the heavy influence of early Slayer.It's like if you smoked a bunch of meth and decided to cover the Show No Mercy album.

Three songs blaze by before something seems like a riff comes out of  "Warfare Noise". They yodel up into the old Tom Ayra metal falsetto, which is my favorite thing about this album along with the moshy riff in the middle of "Warfare Noise". So if you think old Slayer is black metal, then this might work for you. Some of the Slayer worship is almost highway robbery. They are raw and reckless, but this album has more care behind it than several albums I have heard lately. Once you get to "Revelaciones" if you haven't admitted to the fact this is just pumped up and punked out thrash then you are in denial. I guess with a name like Goat Semen, how seriously can you take these guys.
They stumble on a few moments that remind me of early Deicide. You might notice a pattern here all the bands I am referencing are either thrash or death metal, not black metal for good reason. Their blast beats are way more death metal in attack. Like most bands who beat the speed thing to death, these guys prove to be far heavier when they slow down. They make more use of this tempo later in the album and it is some of their more coherent moments. The title track that closes the album doesn't do anything to change the opinion the rest of the album formed, which supports my thesis of Euro superiority in black metal...ok though they are hipster ish some American bands do alright just not south of Texas. I'll give this album a 4 for the few moments they do hit, but over all the meth and Slayer worship wins out. 3