Actually a band I expected to be from either Finland of South America, judging by the name and style. But no, Göatfukk hail from Portugal. On their debut release, Göatfukk deliver a roaring combination of nihilistic primitive Black Metal and crust/punk.
They once again demonstrate that the line between Black Metal and Punk is often very thin, alternating powerchord strumming guitars over d-beat drums with dissonant blasting black riffs. I really dig this kinda stuff, straight forward, raw and mean. The production of this mini album (almost 22 minutes) really just adds to the fun. The guitars have the fat, overdriven punkish sound instead of the usual thin Black Metal axes.
They have that crude sound without the total production ending in an indefinable chaos. The vocals vary between hellish black metal screams, a somewhat lower old school growl and howling semi-clean vocals. The bass takes a prominent role, thundering and can be heard very well, often not just simply doubling guitars, but adding some extra aggression by concentrating more on accents. The drums are falling behind in the mix, which is on one hand a bit of a shame, because they are chasing the other musicians like a mean old drill sergeant. On the other hand, the lower drum volume adds to the intense atmosphere of the music. If I had to summon up the music, I guess it would end up somewhere between DarkThrone, Impaled Nazarene, Venom and Discharge.
The “Enter the Gates” cover of Sweden’s Wolfpack (the later Wolfbrigade) only emphasizes the crustpunk roots. The lyrics are satanic/anti-christian, both tongue-in-cheek (“Drunk Slut 666”) as somewhat more serious (“The God That Never Was”). The band is at their best on higher speeds, but the well dosed slower parts add the necessary dynamics. One could criticize Göatfukk for not being the most original band in the world, and I would be the last to claim that they are. But the music is brought with quite a lot of conviction, and with a couple of beers down the throat, this gets me going quite well.
If you’re into crude, raw, wicked and blasphemous Black Metal and d-beat, it won’t hurt you to check this out.
