Goatriders
The Magician's Keep
** out of *****
The first release from the Swedish based four piece on Ozium Records finds Goatriders mixing heavy doses of 70's metal, prog, desert and stoner rock on The Magician's Keep. The band is a throwback as the group try out the different sub genre's from decades past.
The band start their rumbling five track offering with fuzzed up guitars and a semi motoring low end for "Golem". The opener along with "Hound of the Gods" show the band wants to get after it with frantic drumming but this is not the groups strong suit.
The highlight offering is "Amitte Diem", a slow ominous lumbering beast of a song that recalls the smokey bars and bad haircuts of late seventies metal. A great melodic bass line opens the proceedings as the scuzzy up guitar lines enter and the plodding number takes its sweet ass time exhuming itself from the oozing tar pits. This stoner rock sludge is peak Goatriders as they plod and lurch in the sonic muck like their forefathers Black Sabbath.
Unfortunately the sonics are a bit of a problem as the production is muddle throughout. Vocals are mixed incredibly low in the mix making singing and lyrics almost an after thought. A greater separation of instrumentation and cleaner production would help the band immensely on their next offering.
The mid tempo "Pitch Black Blues" and the prog opus "Song From Mars", complete with pedal effects and spoken word lyrics about ruining the galaxy, wrap up The Magician's Keep. For a first outing the band is on a solid path through the hazy world of sludge, prog infused rock.
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