Goatmoon - Varjot (2011)

Formed around 2002 by sole member BlackGoat Gravedesecrator (AKA Jaakko), Goatmoon issued eight demos during the next two years before releasing the debut, 'Death Before Dishonour' in late '04. With lyrics centered around hatred, anti-religion, Finnish nationalism and white supremacy, BlackGoat is something of a controversial figure, though he personally rejects the NS tag because his words are not centered around Nazi propaganda. I guess that just means he dislikes brown people a lot. Regardless of subject matter, Goatmoon is absolute class as far as Finnish black metal is concerned and I've been absolutely floored since picking up 'Varjot' a few months ago.

Enlisting guest help to provide drums, bass, keyboards, additional guitar, clean vocals and even brief flute and tin whistle use, 'Varjot' may very well be his finest recording to date, although this is the only recording I've heard from the band so far so I could be slightly misinformed. As I understand it, Goatmoon was considerably rawer in their early days, though here the recording is rather polished, while still maintaining the hissing guitar tone the genre is known for. Musically the band offers up mid-paced to speedy black metal compositions that remind of Satanic Warmaster, though with a strong melodic presence intermingled with vibrant folk metal chord progressions makes for a mostly original sound, but comparisons to some of the newer Absurd recordings or stuff like Stormheit could be made for sure.

'Storming Through White Light' opens with sounds of thunderous storm roars in the background alongside a quite pleasing acoustic guitar passage, when just a little over the two minute mark the clouds burst and the blackened fury is unleashed. Immediately the listener is greeted with a catchy and melodic lead riff and BlackGoat's raspy screams, the song gradually builds in dominance, occasionally featuring flute in the background as it reaches its epic conclusion with a mighty and totally headbangable guitar solo that just can't be beat. 'Noidan verestä männikkö herää' & 'Quest For The Goat' tend to be more straightforward, hard hitting and goddamn cold in their delivery, almost bringing to mind Horna at times, while 'Varjo Valolta Suojelee' is a slower instrumental of quite simply epic proportions. The remaining four songs are equally great too, not a wasted moment and not a thing out of line as these lads just continue to crush.

Notably the drum work is quite well performed with almost constant footwork and more than enough interesting rolls and fills along the way, while the bass is also audible during some of the calmer parts of the songs and has its own moments that truly standout and just make the album soar even more. Figuring in more than enough appealing riffs, leads and great solos as well a totally strong and menacing vocal performance and you've got a beast of an album on your hands here.

As mentioned earlier, 'Varjot' is my first contact with Goatmoon, but I eagerly look forward to checking out BlackGoat Gravedesecrator's other creations very soon.