Pembrokeshire in South Wales may be more known for its beautiful beaches rather than occult doom acts, but as is the way with the country in general, it is a place full of surprises. Goat Major’s sophomore album Death Comes Twice, coming to us on the Ripple Music label however, is unsurprising in how it fits in with their roster as its fuzz fuelled riffs sit well with other artists on there.
A brief interlude leads to the rather quite epic ‘Firewalk’, a sprawling 7 minute headbanger which hits the ground running and never really lets up until the end of the album. The title track is more of the same, with some rather nice psychedelic moments. The obvious touchstones of Sabbath and Electric Wizard are here but there’s also a laddish attitude too, and it’s this that gives the music its edge.
Elsewhere, we have the spiralling ‘Wheels Of Gold’, a crawling from the grave miasma on ‘Sin Eater’, and a triumphantly bruised ‘Detached’ to send you on your way. It’s all great stuff and much to enjoy for any self-respecting doom fan. Goat Major’s sophomore album may not be breaking any new ground here, but when the music is as decent as this then we can’t really complain. Excellent.
