Goatwhore is a band that I, regrettably, had not discovered until several months ago. I had heard of Goatwhore, but I had not actually listened to any of their material. One day, I looked up one of their songs out of boredom and stumbled upon the band’s music video for Apocalyptic Havoc. The onslaught of thrash metal mixed with death metal and black metal was done incredibly well. Over the past few months, I’ve grown particularly fond of Louisiana’s finest extreme metal outfit. With Blood for the Master, Goatwhore continues the trend that they started on their previous album, Carving Out the Eyes of God. And it is glorious.
I feel that with Carving Out the Eyes of God, Goatwhore really found their niche. Blood for the Master sees the band explore this sound a little further. One of the main differences that I noticed is that the quite a few of the songs on Blood for the Master seem to be faster than the songs on its predecessor, which is a good thing. The grooves and kickass riffs are still there, the tempo has just been kicked up a bit.
The musicianship is as solid as ever. As I mentioned before, the guitarist still shred and lay down some incredibly groovy riffs. The amount of groove on Blood for the Master isn’t as high as it was on Carving Out the Eyes of God, but that isn’t really an issue and doesn’t detract too much from the album. The vocals on Blood for the Master are very good as well. Duet’s signature mid-level scream is used most often, but there are low growls thrown in every now and then and I feel like they have improved since Carving Out the Eyes of God.
Blood for the Master is a step in the most logical direction for Goatwhore. Carving Out the Eyes of God is one of their best albums and they develop the sound a little more on their latest outing. Competent musicianship, brutality, and intensity are all elements that make Blood for the Master worthy of at least one listen. Whether you’re a longtime Goatwhore fan, you dig blackened death metal, or you just like groovy guitar riffs and well-constructed extreme metal, then look no further than Blood for the Master.
