NECROS CHRISTOS' Mors Dalos Ra on Goatlord's 'Reflections Of The Solstice'
I cannot recall properly why for the Devil's sake I once picked up 'Reflections Of The Solstice' from Las Vegas' cursed Voodoo cult Goatlord. I remember being heavily into Morbid Angel around that time, so was it with King Diamond, Possessed, Autopsy and the likes, but with Goatlord it was all different.
It was quite common around these days (1989 -1993 maybe) that my mates and me, we bought on a regular basis especially those releases who became the "Arschbombe des Monats" (a vague translation could be "The release which sucks most/shittiest release of the month" in a famous German Mag. And buying it often meant getting a fucking classic ('Fallen Angel of Doom' was one of those jewels.)
But while bands as Morbid Angel delivered the right look according to their music, Goatlord became a true mystery in its own right. It couldn't have been the album cover which led to my decision to buy the record; I mean yeah, it shows a nice work of Mister Moyen, which in no way seemed to fit with the grand darkness, lyrically and musically, which was supposed to hide within'Reflections...' It could not have been the band picture of which I remember staring at for several minutes while thinking "Uuh, this is straaaange...!!!" Maybe it was Baron Samedi personally who led my hands to this horrid abomination, but the four figures behind the entity named Goatlord soon became my very own Oungans for real.
My first listen to 'Blood Monk' was an ecstatic one. After the initial riff got played, Ace Still's vocal entrance came like a revelation and when slowing down the tempo with Ace's unbelievable yet barbaric "urgh" my soul was conquered. What followed was and still is one of the most dark, abominable low end Doom/Death/Black Metal records of all time; Black Voodoo Doom indeed.
Excellent songs combined with one of the most unholy voices in extreme Metal ever, Ace Still turns into kind of a necromantic soothsayer over the record. His humming while almost mantra like chanting in 'Distorted Birth' and 'The Fog' still sends shivers down my spine. 'Reflections...' got criticized a lot, mainly for its drum sound (all those well informed should know the story anyway), but the song writing should be credited for its incredible craft with classics such as the aforementioned 'Blood Monk', 'Underground Church', 'Chicken Dance' (what a lyric by the way!!!) and 'Acid Orgy'.
The lyrics in general were something which no one seemed to expect from a band as Goatlord as they were written by Mister Still with a great sense for words and topics no other band seemed to use at that time, for example, 'Chicken Dance' and 'Voodoo Mass'.
This last track wasn't part of the original release by German Turbo Music though, and I can recommend to everyone to check the version with Still on vocals on their 'Distorted Birth' Demo Compendium. Better than the version with latter singer Chris Gans (who appeared on 'Reflections...' re-release) who did a good job but in no way reached the class of Ace Still. Most should know the rumour that Mitch Harris (of later Napalm Death fame) recorded vocals for 'Reflections...' which were kind of overdubbed by Still when he briefly returned to Goatlord, but true or not, I give praise to all Gods in Voodoo, Santeria and Candomble simultaneously that Still finally made it.
By the way, if anybody doesn't know 'Love, Sorrow, Doom' by Ace's later band Doom Snake Cult, just get it!!!
To sum it up: This was it, Goatlord were the real deal; This was and still is unbelievable evil in most of its ways, something uttermost dark hiding within every note and vocal expulsion of a totally underrated record, a forgotten jewel by many named 'Reflections Of The Solstice'.
Select Necros Christos Discography:
'Triune Impurity Rites' - DLP Sepulchral Voice Records 2007
'Grave Damnation' - Demo - Iron Fist Kommando - 2004
'Black Mass Desecration' - Demo Time Before Time Records 2003
'Necromantic Doom' - Demo Tothundemeton 2002
Official Necros Christos Site
I cannot recall properly why for the Devil's sake I once picked up 'Reflections Of The Solstice' from Las Vegas' cursed Voodoo cult Goatlord. I remember being heavily into Morbid Angel around that time, so was it with King Diamond, Possessed, Autopsy and the likes, but with Goatlord it was all different.
It was quite common around these days (1989 -1993 maybe) that my mates and me, we bought on a regular basis especially those releases who became the "Arschbombe des Monats" (a vague translation could be "The release which sucks most/shittiest release of the month" in a famous German Mag. And buying it often meant getting a fucking classic ('Fallen Angel of Doom' was one of those jewels.)
But while bands as Morbid Angel delivered the right look according to their music, Goatlord became a true mystery in its own right. It couldn't have been the album cover which led to my decision to buy the record; I mean yeah, it shows a nice work of Mister Moyen, which in no way seemed to fit with the grand darkness, lyrically and musically, which was supposed to hide within'Reflections...' It could not have been the band picture of which I remember staring at for several minutes while thinking "Uuh, this is straaaange...!!!" Maybe it was Baron Samedi personally who led my hands to this horrid abomination, but the four figures behind the entity named Goatlord soon became my very own Oungans for real.
My first listen to 'Blood Monk' was an ecstatic one. After the initial riff got played, Ace Still's vocal entrance came like a revelation and when slowing down the tempo with Ace's unbelievable yet barbaric "urgh" my soul was conquered. What followed was and still is one of the most dark, abominable low end Doom/Death/Black Metal records of all time; Black Voodoo Doom indeed.
Excellent songs combined with one of the most unholy voices in extreme Metal ever, Ace Still turns into kind of a necromantic soothsayer over the record. His humming while almost mantra like chanting in 'Distorted Birth' and 'The Fog' still sends shivers down my spine. 'Reflections...' got criticized a lot, mainly for its drum sound (all those well informed should know the story anyway), but the song writing should be credited for its incredible craft with classics such as the aforementioned 'Blood Monk', 'Underground Church', 'Chicken Dance' (what a lyric by the way!!!) and 'Acid Orgy'.
The lyrics in general were something which no one seemed to expect from a band as Goatlord as they were written by Mister Still with a great sense for words and topics no other band seemed to use at that time, for example, 'Chicken Dance' and 'Voodoo Mass'.
This last track wasn't part of the original release by German Turbo Music though, and I can recommend to everyone to check the version with Still on vocals on their 'Distorted Birth' Demo Compendium. Better than the version with latter singer Chris Gans (who appeared on 'Reflections...' re-release) who did a good job but in no way reached the class of Ace Still. Most should know the rumour that Mitch Harris (of later Napalm Death fame) recorded vocals for 'Reflections...' which were kind of overdubbed by Still when he briefly returned to Goatlord, but true or not, I give praise to all Gods in Voodoo, Santeria and Candomble simultaneously that Still finally made it.
By the way, if anybody doesn't know 'Love, Sorrow, Doom' by Ace's later band Doom Snake Cult, just get it!!!
To sum it up: This was it, Goatlord were the real deal; This was and still is unbelievable evil in most of its ways, something uttermost dark hiding within every note and vocal expulsion of a totally underrated record, a forgotten jewel by many named 'Reflections Of The Solstice'.
Select Necros Christos Discography:
'Triune Impurity Rites' - DLP Sepulchral Voice Records 2007
'Grave Damnation' - Demo - Iron Fist Kommando - 2004
'Black Mass Desecration' - Demo Time Before Time Records 2003
'Necromantic Doom' - Demo Tothundemeton 2002
Official Necros Christos Site
