Review of Goatwhore - "Constricting Rage of the Merciless"

MAJOR MAYHEM

By: Geoff Teach

From time to time, “more of the same” can be a good thing. In the case of New Orleans’ blackened death metallers Goatwhore’s new album, “Constricting Rage of the Merciless” (Metal Blade Records), this statement becomes quite true indeed. While many bands are not satisfied unless they feel a sense of “growth” (and by attrition, “change”) after recording a new effort, Goatwhore doesn’t seem to mind staying in the groove and writing another full album’s worth of neck-breakers that sound eerily similar to their last album, 2012’s “Blood For the Master” (Metal Blade Records). This is not to say that the ten tracks on “Constricting Rage of the Merciless” are just retreads and continuations of past material, no, but the overall lyrical content, riff progressions, and rhythms are certainly textbook “Goatwhore”, no doubt about it...and that is just fine with your humble music critic.

Even with all this being said, though, there are still plenty of tracks that stand out on “Constricting Rage of the Merciless”. The starter, “Poisonous Existence in Reawakening”, sounds like a carbon copy of “Blood For the Master” material, but “Unraveling Paradise” is an atonal ass-kicker, and “Baring Teeth for Revolt” is a cool track that borders on thrash metal with its galloping riffs. “Reanimated Sacrifice” doesn’t really raise my eyebrows, but the next two tracks seem to finally hint at even Goatwhore doing a bit of growing by writing outside their own box. “Heaven’s Crumbling Walls of Pity” is a black metal basher, and “Cold Earth Consumed in Dying Flesh” is definitely the most eye-popping composition, with its slow and sludgy doom opening and pure death metal climax, “Cold Earth” is by far my favorite track on the cut. “FBS” (official lyric video embedded below) and “Nocturnal Conjuration of the Accursed” are classic Goatwhore again, leading directly into the capably written “Schadenfreude”, which is another one of my favorites. Finishing powerfully with “Externalize This Hidden Tragedy”, a wild, commoving thrasher, Goatwhore’s “Constricting Rage of the Merciless” might just be “more of the same”, but that is in no way a bad thing, because ultimately (and to indulge in the use of another clichee), “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” So go, pick up a copy today, and enjoy another ten tracks of comfortably composed Louisiana death!

Keep it metal, class dismissed!

Press play to check out the official lyric video for “FBS” below!