Review: –

If Goatess are a band that have previously passed under your radar then it’s easy to get a flavour of their sound based purely on the fact they are fronted by Christian “Chritus” Linderson (ex-Count Raven, ex-Saint Vitus, Lord Vicar, Terra Firma, etc). The Stockholm four-piece are rocking a traditional ‘Sabbathian’ doom sound with a slightly more contemporary vibe. ‘Purgatory Under New Management’ is the follow up to their 2013 self-titled debut and is essentially more of the same chugging stoner grooves and melodic hooks. You can almost imagine the songs that this album encompasses being the B-sides that never made it onto ‘Volume 4’.

‘Moth To Flame’ is a 10-minute spaced out jam that meanders its way through gigantic riffs and monolithic percussion alongside stellar vocal delivery from Linderson. This isn’t strictly a doom affair, however, the band aren’t afraid to go off the beaten path and explore proggier, more psychedelic territory and this is demonstrated on tracks such as ‘Wrath Of God’. This is an album that fans of Hawkwind and Reverend Bizarre are going to have a genuine interest in. While this release is tighter than their previous effort, they’ve learned nothing of time management as, like their first album, this sits at just over an hour, making it easy for your attention to wander mid-play. Less is definitely more and ‘Purgatory…’ is in desperate need of a fat trim to ensure it gets the full attention it deserves. Perhaps duration is something that Purgatory’s new management can help Goatess out with…