### Lavagoat: Lavagoat

#### 25/05/11 || Khlysty

Oh, dear. And here I thought that stoner was dead. Oh, well, I suppose that I have to take things on stride here.

Lavagoat (not the most inspired of band names, mind you…) hails from Canada and plays what can easily be called “by-the-book” stoner metal: the guitars are heavy slabs of downtuned menace, the songs tend to sprawl, the rhythms are basically slow (although there are a few tempo changes, to get the blood a-flowin’), the vocals are howled rasps and everything sounds like a modernized (but not much, oh, no, never much) take on Sabbath’s “Master Of Reality” or Kyuss’ “Blues For The Red Sun”.

What makes this little record interesting is a couple of things that these Canuks seem to have going for them. One is the fact that these folks know how to write and arrange their riffs in ways that make the music memorable and even hummable. Instead of just writing songs with the only purpose of pulverizing the listener with heavosity, Lavagoat tends to add a coupla hooks in each tune. This is a commendable trend, which lets everything flow better and makes the record more palatable, even to non-fans of stoner.

The other thingy that interests me is some hints towards other metal subgenres that the band adds to its songwriting, like the discreet nods towards NWOBHM to be found in “Old Man and The Sea” and the galloping “Cursed Emperor”, or the psychedelics that permeate “The Witch” and the huge instrumental “Interstellar Deserts”. Of course, this fucker is as stoner as it gets and tracks like “The House” or “Rome” are clearly designed to blow one’s mind with their monolith almost atonal heaviness. But, as I said before, the hooks and the outside elements add a bit of adventure to the overall listening experience.

What’s more to say? Oh, yeah, the production is fucking ace, full and thick and bass-heavy, as it’s supposed to be. Plus, every song is kept to manageable length (the longest is just 7:18, the shortest 3:30), thus avoiding redundancy. Look, bottom line here is that if one likes his music slow and heavy, Lavagoat’s first offering is a pretty enjoyable –if not particularly original- choice.

- Information
- Released: 2010
- Label: Somnambulist Sound System
- Website: Lavagoat MySpace
- Band
- Sean: vocals, bass
- Graeme: guitar, vocals
- Jimmy: guitar, vocals
- Graham: drums, vocals

- Tracklist
- 01. The Puritan
- 02. Old Man and The Sea
- 03. Magma
- 04. The House
- 05. Rome
- 06. The Witch
- 07. Interstellar Deserts
- 08. Cursed Emperor