#33 - Top of 2018

King Goat - Debt of Aeons (Aural Music)

Fans of intricate doom elegies rejoice! The second release from King Goat was tailor-made for you! The cover from Travis Smith (Opeth) already predisposes you towards entering a dark and fiery world, and the band delivers the goods with some of the darkest and most innovative doom of 2018! The Brighton-based band is an excellent hidden gem that is definitely worth keeping an eye on. The album combines deep & theatrical vocals by Anthony 'Trim' Trimming (who has a voice made for doom & heavy riffs) with amazing melodic guitars (by Petros & Joe) and solid drumming (by Jon). "Rapture" which kick-starts the album is an awesome doom song with progressive touches spanning at over 9 minutes and spanning from clean vocals to growls and from mellow tunes to an epic heavy-riffed ending. "Eremite's Rest" is a worthy follow-up which manages to give us some even heavier riffs and more pronounced drumming tunes. The title-song "Debt of Aeons" adds a more melodic touch shedding light on the lead singer's vocal range! "Psychasthenia" is a mesmerizing interlude which along with the personal favourite heavy-riffed "Doldrum Sentinels" (again combining both amazing vocals and heavy guitar riffs) seamlessly lead to the atmospheric finale "On Dusty Avenues" which takes a different direction with a "dirtier" sound and more progressive vibes retaining throughout its heavy doom identity.


92.5/100

Below is the lyric video for "Doldrum Sentinels"