Cokegoat - Vessel (2013)

From Chicago's ever bustling metal scene comes, Cokegoat, an unsigned 6-piece band offering their take on the stoner/doom sub-genre, although, Vessel, isn't without its surprises.

Fear the Followers initiates the record in a surprisingly fast and nearly hardcore sounding direction, before gradually adding heavier riffage and slower speeds towards sludgier grounds and eventually a quite slow mournful doom tone by the second half and remainder of the song. Buried in the City, is pure stoner/doom; catchy, thick and more than enough groove to keep you going, whereas, Dogs, is similar, although mostly evenly paced and with some minor backing female vocals and something of a post-ish moment near the end that makes it one of the albums highlights.

Both parts of End of Your Life are fantastic, especially the all-out rocking in part 1, which is followed by a groovy solo, before plunging into something of a more experimental territory by its end, while Part 2, is a sludgy and quite solid piece the whole way through. The final three songs all stick out quite adequately, too, from clever riffs, good jams, odd spacey keyboards and a variety of little personal traits the album stays strong until the very end.

I've been playing Vessel A LOT since the band found their way into my ears late last year and I wouldn't hesitate to say it has proven to be one of my favs from 2013. What really makes the record interesting is that no single song sounds exactly alike, there's always something to mix things up and make each number a unique experience. This could seem bad, but the songs framework are not hugely different, just a little different from each one, while always working within the boundaries of the doom, stoner and sludge genres. However, like all good things it really must be heard.

For an independent release, Vessel is also properly produced and available as a 180 gram vinyl LP, although until I get my hands on some monies I'll have to settle for my bandcamp files, but I'm sure it looks and sounds glorious.

Meanwhile, I hope to catch these guys live soon, and of course always eagerly awaiting their next creations.