Even though I’m known around these parts as Mr. Weird Music around these parts, and have shown a love for complicated, complex and technical music, I still appreciate simplicity. There’s just something about a simple, straight to the point riff played at fast speeds that makes me as giddy as a school girl.

GOATWHORE plays this mixture of old school VENOM-inspired Thrash with some MOTORHEAD-ian Punk Rockish sensibilities through a Blackened Death Metal filter, and does so with amazing results. It’s down and dirty and gritty as it gets with no embellishments whatsoever. It’s straight to the point with the simple yet fast riffs and an extremely convincing vocal performance that manages to be both decipherable yet vicious as all hell. It’s not all at Thrashy speeds, though. The band mixes it up with some good melodic sections that pop-up in between the onslaught of the tremolo picked riffs (on the title track) and also belts out slow tempo riffs that scream “BANG YOUR HEAD FOR SATAN”, and does so with amazing results (“Provoking The Ritual Of Death”). It’s not just those two songs that are awesome, though. Every single track on this record is nothing short of being an absolute scorcher.

Oh yea, the more I listen to this, the more I’m loving the vocal performance. It’s just EXACTLY what Death Metal vocalists should aspire to be. Understandable, visceral, gut wrenching and convincing.

I can’t go too deep into analyzing this because, as I mentioned before, it’s pretty simple and straightforward, but it’s nothing short of an amazing slab of old-school sounding Death Metal and EVERYONE should be listening to this.

One of this year’s best.

(Online July 25, 2009)