Rating 6/7
I was looking for some music to start writing about, as it has been quite some time since I've written a review, and I decided to smack my sophomore slump in the rump by writing about the band Goat and their new album Requiem, released on October 7.
If I could describe how I felt when I randomly chose to listen to “Psychedelic Lover," track 6 out of the 13-track album, it would be that I had finally found the band I’d been unconsciously searching for for an unmeasurably long amount of time.
Goat hails from Korpilombolo (say that three times fast), Sweden, which according to Wikipedia only has about 529 residents. If that wasn’t intriguing, the band is completely anonymous and has chosen to stay far far away from the social media super massive black hole that marks the 2010’s.
Listening track by track, my senses take me to a place of flickering flames and shadowy pines in the middle of a balmy night, while mysterious musicians play a multitude of unconventional instruments and styles that seamlessly fit together in what I could only call a “musical orgy."
The 8 minute “Goodbye” begins with a soft melody that is reminiscent of a calm, meditative style raga that induces a zen-like ambience while listening. As the song builds, it adds layers of guitars and beats that pulse through my ears like a sunny little dream on a fall day.
Besides the eerie and ghostly calls of a few female singers dispersed throughout the album, the focus of Requiem is purely instrumental. This creates a dusky atmosphere that allows listeners to notice less of what the art is saying and more of the feeling the art invokes. My brain was given a break to just float along with these hidden musicians rather than grasp for words or meanings that aren't always necessary for music.
Requiem kept me interested and engaged throughout the entirety of the hour long album while broadening my musical horizon with it’s laid-back, psychedelic sounds. Goat has put out two albums prior to Requiem which give a great foundation to a seriously enigmatic and energetic band of musicians. Sweden's mystery, Goat, has done all right by me.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCGWjoEp9PM[/embed]
