One of my all time favorite black metal albums is Taake‘s 2005 dark and jangly masterpiece ‘…Doedskvad’ with it’s catchy and memorable guitar riffing and ability to surf the line between orthodox Norwegian black metal and melodic black metal sensibilities. It has been enough to keep my eagle-ears and dot-sights set on anything Hoest related for over a decade. Oddly enough I stumbled upon Deathcult simply for a closer look at the veined goat cock on the cover art. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a tail and that it was really just a goat-throbber under that shield. Turns out I was right and doubly pleased by ‘Cult of the Goat’ and it’s forward thinking post-punk tipped raw-doggin’ black metal hysterics.

It certainly helps push this Norwegian group back into the spotlight after ten years that the band continues to include Hoest, the mastermind behind Taake, but two brothers who were included in the rhythm section of his touring band at various times as well as being a major part of the ‘Noregs Vaapen’ album. The two also played a role in Gaahl‘s (Gorgoroth, Trelldom) short-lived solo project Gaahlskagg as well. ‘Cult of the Goat’ doesn’t stray too far from Deathcult’s 2007 debut ‘Cult of the Dragon’ but it does cast aside all of the rough edges of that album and I believe most of the vocals are Skagg’s work and no longer feature contributions from Hoest; Skagg’s vocals are less abrasive and take a step back in the mix behind the guitars and excellent drumming.

Deathcult as a project distills everything I like about modern Taake records, old Rotting Christ and some blackened post-punk guitar fringes showing and uses a banging hot guitar tone along with blasphemous lyrics for one of the best black metal albums to show up later in the year. It is an album of 6-7 minute blackened ear-worm metal with a drum performance that outclasses related bands by a small margin. I friggin’ swear I’m listening to a hissing Satanic black metal version of The Hives at times, and that’s a really great thing in 2017. Ultimately I feel like I’ve finally gotten that follow-up and expansion of ‘…Doedskvad’ here on ‘Cult of the Goat’ and even if that is a self-serving delusion, I’m pretty satisfied with this album.

With blood, by doctrine to succeed. 4.0/5.0

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