Welcome to the Goat Review where I, the site’s owner and namesake, repeatedly write reviews that sound negative only to begrudgingly hand out a positive score. Beaten To Death shall join in this trend. As much as I like Sunrise Over Rigor Mortis, I don’t like it as much as I think I should, which is why i spiralled into an investigation about what I actually like about the band. Don’t beat yourself up if you too love it.
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Full of Hell – Coagulated Bliss Review
This version of Full of Hell is more committed to one interpretation of their sound than before. This is the type of sound that some reviewers might be tempted to call “matured”. That phrase is usually a hack word for a reviewer so he can sell the idea to you that a band doing less is somehow good. But our Goat’s no hack and he’s got a lust for grind…
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Hamferð – Men Guðs hond er sterk Review
Several of us at The Goat Review are fans of Hamferð and had Támsins Likam up high on our yearly list back in 2018, before the blog existed. Big changes to a band’s sound are naturally risky, as hearing it as a fan, what you liked about a band might simply be gone, washed away in the ever-shifting tides of the modern metal scene. Maybe the real lister is the friends we’ve made along the way.
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Replicant – Infinite Mortality Review
Death metal nowadays covers so much ground as a tag. You have your classic veterans, modern media darlings, weirdos trying something totally different—all death metal! So where does Replicant fit into this? Well they’re more than just another skin job…
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Acathexis – Immerse Review
For those going into Immerse and expecting a riff-driven black metal album, prepare to be disappointed. Acathexis has a unique sound that sets them apart from other black metal bands—a crushing, comforting cocoon of bleakness that completely and utterly envelops the listener. Explosively meditative for black metal bats?
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Aberration – Refracture Review
Aberration specializes in caustic, spiteful blackened death metal that seeks to crush you into a paste over the runtime. The debut LP is akin to stepping up to bat for the first time, so, how far does Aberration knock the proverbial ball?
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LVME – Of Sinful Nature Review
LVME’s take on black metal draws broadly from the many traditions within it. The classic tremolo and blastbeat approach is used to release the pressure created by shimmering dissonance and mid-paced ritualistic melodies. LVME is easy to love.
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Spectral Voice – Sparagmos Review
Sparagmos is the Dionysian rite of tearing something asunder, be it animal or sometimes human, followed up by the consumption of the flesh. It’s fitting that Spectral Voice, the thicker, meaner counterpart to Blood Incantation, return after seven years with their sophomore full-length designed to tear you apart and leave you a mangled corpse. Pick yourself up love, it’s really not that bad.
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Madder Mortem – Old Eyes, New Heart Review
We’re lucky to have Norway’s Madder Mortem, as they embody the word progressive to a fault, never doing the same thing between any of their albums. You can always recognize a Madder Mortem song, yet not point to a stale formula in its construction. This is the mark of a band that writes progressively rather than chasing trends. Be the change you want to see!
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Crypts of the Unknown: 2024 Vol. 1
