Review: Goat ‘Medicine’
We pay into a convenient, encrypted reality that others spend a lifetime cracking. Goat crack into the physics of metal like no other rock physicist that I know of. Come to think of it, they are the only rock physicists who have somehow, and in some way found a way to hypothesize the harmony of instrumental Celtic chimes with brilliant, jazzed-out psych rock without even remotely becoming space rock amid the lab experiment. Call them a vaccine.
They are versatile and fully aware of the con artistry of this 3D consciousness. It’s only once that we have a chance to make history. Goat will likely make it in the 5th dimension or in costumes that are inter-dimensional. Goat has a fashion sense and goes about making history in an organic way, that makes me want to trim down my music diet. It gives me pep in my step to cull the herd of albums out soon that no longer serve my purpose.
Every single song off Medicine reminds me of a chapter of my own life. Whether it is Raised By Hills or about the unemployment offices, it’s evidently judged easily by its cover. I’ve been known to wear my heart on my sleeve, but just when you try to quit Goat, it turns you into a Conan the Destroyer movie clip with gauntlets on. Suddenly in Vakna I’m standing in a city of golden domes. If I read my tarot cards while listening to this album, I would enchant myself with a mystical journey to a tower made of mirrors that one-eyed wizards with the Ace of Wands are found shapeshifting around in.
I forged halfway through the eight tracks now accompanied by a motley crew of misfits tagging along whilst facing the Lizard King head-on. Swedish, mostly, female-fronted occult rockers, Goat who are backed by Rocket Recordings, are a band of traveling apocalyptic steampunk, doomed gypsies. There is enough in this band to cast a full motion picture. It makes sense to form forces with them in their tambourine-writhing, psychedelic death-marching jam-a-long exploration.
tambourine-writhing, psychedelic death-marching jam-a-long exploration…
This lands us lastly on their final recording, Tripping Through The Graveyard which is an acoustic celebration with Sumerian barbarians awaiting back sheep swordsman. They certainly found a flutist like no other Jethro Tull out there and if you went well with Blood Ceremony on Rise Above Records, you could follow along for this mystic learning experience. A side note and disclaimer* You potentially need the take Ayahuasca to fully get Goat’s medicinal new album and be 100% in like sin with it.
Before bands like Ghost captivated audiences, Goat did, and they did it without a Satanic Panic tour roster. What you see is not apparently what you get. Goat have managed to emit an entrancing album that your abs will be sore from belly-dancing to by the time the next winter solstice hits.
As for albums I will now remove because I explored others, such as Goatess. One reason they’re culled is because Goatess are simply no more. They’re now called Goddess. Others might just be Spirit Caravan. Why? Some bands you have to join and others you can simply listen to. Plus, with the loss of Dave Sherman, it makes a lot of sense too. Lastly, Faith No More and Gwar are a toss-up. They bring up stagnant childhood memories I could probably be safe parting with from here on in on my journey. Or at least never hearing them again.
If you fancied King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard the first time you heard them, Goat may aid you, as well from hither on out. Influences from traditional tribal beats to hints of Hinduism can be heard from their extensive well-cultured music background that astonishingly dates to the late 90’s. They cross me as a band that is highly intrinsic live and will be sorely missed if you mistakenly miss them in person. If there is one thing, we might be able to thank The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Alice Cooper is for ending the glam rock era. At the same rate, when one door closes another opens, such as albums like Medicine did.
Label: Rocket Recordings
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Spring ‘The Strutter’ Chase
