Album Review: Goatwhore - 'Constricting Rage of the Merciless'

2 July 2014 | 1:40 pm | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

A fantastic melting pot of metal genres.

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Goatwhore have been terrorising the music scene for the past 16 years and they still manage to kill it every time. Their sound is a melting pot of metal, with black metal, death metal and thrash all playing dominant parts in the overall sound. New album, ‘Constricting Rage of the Merciless’ proves to be all of these best parts of Goatwhore in one place.

No time is wasted in turning up the musical insanity with opening track, ‘Poisonous Existence in Reawakening' smacking the listener from ear-to-ear with a wave of brutality. The album oozes aggression and the focus on the fast paced, in your face guitars riffs really top it off.

It is as metal as it gets, with tracks like ‘Reanimated Sacrifice’ contributing to the chaos and ‘Heaven’s Crumbling Walls of Pity’ pummelling your eardrums with dynamic tempos.

‘Cold Earth Consumed in Dying Flesh’ proves to be the most diverse track from, with it’s slower and sludgy components. The intense growls, dense guitars and thick bass-lines consume you before the end of the song starts to pick up and throws you back into the pit again.

What we have is an entirety evil and enticing record. The perfect use of vocal ranges from low and aggressive growls to higher notes further adds to the tone, while the dynamic changes and scattered guitar solos add some complexity.

The album does not back down with its final track, ‘Externalise The Hidden Savagery,’ every bit as intense as the opener. With only 10 tracks this full-length is bursting with energy and proves Goatwhore are one of the best in their field.

‘Constricting Rage of the Merciless’ has the abosolute brutality of death metal along with the rhythm of thrash, proving to be an energetic and well-produced album. While Goatwhore's sound is not entirely new or revolutionary, it is enjoyable and executed extremely well. 

1. Poisonous Existence In Reawakening

2. Unraveling Paradise

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3. Baring Teeth For Revolt

4. Reanimated Sacrifice

5. Heaven’s Crumbling Walls Of Pity

6. Cold Earth Consumed In Dying Flesh

7. FBS

8. Nocturnal Conjuration Of The Accursed

9. Schadenfreude

10. Externalize This Hidden Savagery