#goatsnake

Goatsnake: Goatsnake Vol. 1 (1999)

I was ALL IN on '90s stoner rock -- Kyuss, Monster Magnet, Fu Manchu, you name it! -- and, before that, classic doom -- Trouble, Candlemass, Black Fucking Sabbath, etc. -- but Goatsnake barely registered on my radar because, well, how can I put this?

I just didn't think they were very good.

Goatsnake formed in 1996, when the recently disbanded The Obsessed rhythm section of bassist Guy Pinhas and drummer Greg Rogers began jamming with guitarist Greg Anderson, previously of Thorr's Hammer, Burning Witch, and countless other bands.

For their frontman, the trio chose a rather unconventional, certainly unexpected, approach in former Scream and Wool frontman Pete Stahl, then got to work on a couple of 7-inches, the Sabbath-referencing IV and Man of Light -- both issued in 1998.

Now, don't forget that, at the time, Anderson and his frequent partner Stephen O'Malley were only just launching their own influential label, Southern Lord, and their iconic drone project Sunn O))), so Goatsnake was very much Anderson's priority.

But, as I said at the top of this blog, '99's Goatsnake Vol. 1 didn't impress me all that much, and I had no plans to revisit, nor to possibly revise my original opinion, until I found this vinyl reissue at a bargain price.

And, yes, it helped that the album's embarrassing original artwork, featuring a Viking ship sailing under a Confederate Flag (already in bad taste years before these were justifiably canceled), had been replaced by the classy, silver-on-black design seen here.

Note how that the font treatment echoes Sunn O)))'s sound waves ...

Anyway, sorry to keep you in suspense, but I'm afraid that a quarter-century has done little to ameliorate my original assessment of mediocre doom grinds like "IV," "Lord of Los Feliz," "Trower" (the string section was a nice touch, I suppose), and the frankly ridiculous "Dog Catcher."

Along with comparative "highlights" like the moderately galloping "Slippin' the Stealth," the harmonica-enhanced "Innocent," and the all-around very solid "Mower," these tracks ultimately offer nothing beyond serviceable, formulaic, derivative stoner metal.

OK, fine, I'll add a few points to "What Love Remains" because Anderson's sluggish, leviathan riffs point to his way forward with Sunn O))), but I simply don't rate Stahl's brassy, inexpressive vocals very highly -- sorry!

So I better shut the hell up before I piss off some of my stoner rock/doom brethren with this most likely unpopular evaluation; but I'll stand by it and will always recommend dozens of other bands and albums over Goatsnake and their largely disappointing discography.

More Stoner Rock: Acrimony’s Tumuli Shroomaroom, The Atomic Bitchwax’s The Atomic Bitchwax, Belzebong’s Sonic Scapes & Weedy Grooves, Bigelf’s Cheat the Gallows, Black Rainbows’ Hawkdope, Blue Heron's Ephemeral, Bongripper’s Satan Worshipping Doom, Bongzilla’s Stash, Cavity’s Supercollider, Ché’s Sounds of Liberation, Clutch’s Earth Rocker, Dead Meadow’s Dead Meadow, Dozer's Drifting in the Endless Void, Earthride’s Earthride EP, Eternal Elysium’s Spiritualized D, Fu Manchu’s No One Rides for Free, The Glasspack’s Powderkeg, Hashtronaut's No Return, The Heads’ Mao Tinitus EP, The Hidden Hand’s Mother Teacher Destroyer, House of Broken Promises’ Using the Useless ...

Fugazi and Goatsnake at The Palace, LA, March 10, 1999