### Lavagoat: Monoliths of Mars

#### 17/07/12 || Habakuk

Take the mytho-sci-fi sludge of The Sword and a fair bit of Electric Wizard, maybe even a bit of Sleep. Add gruff but intelligible vocals. Stir sloooowly. That thick stew is Lavagoat. Decidedly, yet not excessively slow, these Canadians create a suffocating, pounding fuzz on this 4 song, yet 44 minutes long EP of theirs. “Forge of Vulcan” and “Galactic Dementia” still sport speedier parts, but the direction of the disc from then onwards goes into doomy stoner spheres, with no hesitation to even add a 9-minute part consisting of spaced out, reverb sound effects only. From here, the disc slowly recovers, only to add another minute-long Reprise of said part towards the end. The album remains somewhat engaging throughout, yet if patience is no virtue of yours, try something with a greater sense of urgency. For example Slayer. Yeah, definitely listen to Slayer. When that desire has been stilled, you can still come back for Lavagoat’s trippy escapist sludge tour. I hear they also have a new full-length out.

7/10: Decent, but make sure you’re in no rush.