Goatfire
Sacrophobic Initiation (Reissue)
5.2
With a name like Goatfire and a healthy, if meager, following amongst European circles, one might expect a filthy black thrash hybrid along the lines of Black Goat or countrymen Necromessiah, but instead this reissue offers raw, somewhat predictable orthodox black metal, a rather disappointing proposition considering their Italian roots.
That isn’t to say this is all bad, just rather tepid and not entirely engaging, traversing well-trodden paths once ploughed by Norwegian forefathers. There is a pretty pronounced Darkthrone feel throughout the record, the band shifting from blasting, frigid sections into more nefarious ‘’rocking’’ post-Panzerfaust passages that periodically urge bouts of headnodding, yet are never quite lethal enough to encourage frenzied headBANGING. That being said, the record truly has its moments- the sparkling clean passage that intersects “Enlightenment In Primeval Chaos” is pretty nifty, the malevolent groove that surfaces 50 seconds through “Monumental Transfixion” is a fierce motherfucker of a riff, the sub-De Mysteriis passage that arises three minutes through “Infernal Ascension” is promising, as is the quasi Kronet Til Konge groove that materializes 01:40 through “Dormant Vortex”. However, these moments are encrusted in a lot of nebulous, cackhanded messiness that cloaks this release in mediocrity.
Maybe I might have enjoyed this release far more a few years ago, before the whole post-Darkthrone, Clandestine Blaze/ Katharsis/ Sargeist/ Craft/ Armagedda helmed sound gained so much momentum in the underground. As it is, I am frankly quite exhausted by this particular style, and while Goatfire clearly predated such lukewarm plagiarists, when digested in 2005, Sacrophobic Initiation ultimately feels somewhat redundant and unnecessary. I’m sure there’s a whole host of people who would disagree with me, but this really doesn’t do a whole lot for me.
