Goatwhore - Constricting Rage of the Merciless (2014)

The problem with having a vocalist who sings in more than one band is that they all end up sounding alike. Goatwhore essentially sounds like Soilent Green sans the imaginative riffing. Unfortunately for both bands it's been quite some time since vocalist Ben Falgoust possessed any sort of range so the similarities have become that much easier to define.

Goatwhore seem caught between two worlds and a bit undecided as to what side of the fence they choose to gaze through. On one hand they are one of the more recognized acts in the metal community overall, a position owed in no small part to their allegiance to Metal Blade. On the other hand, they seem to want to, at least "partially" remain within the underground faction of their peers and their fanbase and in this sense Goatwhore are sort of the "Pantera" of black metal (sure, I know many refer to them as "blackened death" or "black thrash" but to avoid confusion and just for plain old arguments sake they will be referred to in this blog as 100%, straight up black metal, or if you're Norwegian "blick" metal).

Quite honestly, this band is as lame as it gets. They pretty much began circling the drain after album number three (A Haunting Curse) which, by default is the template for everything they've done since. That's not to say that I'm some sort of fan of their earlier work but at least there was a minute amount of murk and menace back then as opposed to the clinical sterility of their past three albums. Overall this is yet another predictable affair by a rather unnecessary band whose sole existence seems to fuel the fires for the unimaginative. Black metal of this caliber is why Europeans tend to think that Americans are a bunch of retards.

By the way... can someone explain to me the tradition of these long-winded album titles raped to death by the denizens down in New Orleans?