What is it about these metal muthas and their goats? Goat King’s eponymous second EP has a pretty lurid sleeve, a far-out combination of psychedelia and gore in which a multi-eyed goat bleeds copiously from wounds where lances piece clear through its body as it stands before a backdrop of (magic) mushrooms bound by ropes or threads. What does it all mean? Whatever it means, it’s a pretty bad trip in all.
The first track, the 13-minute ‘The Final Decline’ builds from a swirling mystical vibe into an anguished crescendo, tortured wordless vocals are the sonic representation of a descent into hell… and then the storm hits and we’re in doomy gothic metal territory. Guttural vocals swing into a towering theatrical performance that borders on the operatic. It’ completely preposterous, yet oddly compelling. There’s a heavy hint of Sabbath about the lumbering colossus that is ‘Cult Obscene’ and the slow grind of early Melvins makes a fair reference point for closer ‘Melian’s Trance’, at least until it breaks out onto howling bombast at the midway point. It’s not short on weight or clout, although at times it does get a bit overblown.
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