Review: Goatwhore “Funeral Dirge for the Rotting Sun”

Goatwhore
“Funeral Dirge for the Rotting Sun”
(Rotten Records)

How much metal is too much metal? Is there even such a thing? Not being a big connoisseur of the genre, I’m often at a disadvantage when it comes to the wailing of guitars and gnashing of teeth. Yet here we are again, listening to a death metal band called Goatwhore in all of their black glory. The thing to remember about these metal bands is that they are serious about their music, for all of its clichéd metaphors and predicable lyrics. As such, acts like Goatwhore succeed in making a technically correct, savagely feral release, albeit one that sounds similar to the other standard-bearers of their craft. The majority of “Funeral Dirge” is made up of depression-laden sentiments, salved by savage screams and occasional forays into a sludgy, Southern hardcore. For the most part, however, Goatwhore remains true to the genre, which is both the effort’s strength and its Achilles heel. All of the talk of demons and dark rituals and tortured souls ensures that Goatwhore will finish highly in the great Metal Pissing Contest of Anger and Despair. But a pissing contest is still a pissing contest and the winners end up looking pretty similar to the losers when all is said and done.

Brian Greenaway