Album Review: Goat Semen – Ego Sum Sathana (Hell’s Headbangers)

Opening with the sounds of ritualistic chanting the first track Holocausto nails exactly what kind of band Goat Semen are. Incredibly brutal & uncompromising…the speed at which the vocals are spat out is eye-opening stuff while maintaining an extreme metal sound. It’s over as quickly as it begun & Genocidio picks up exactly where it left off.

Somehow heavier than the last…it manages to be much more listenable with the instruments easier to pick out although the drumming is a bit jarring. Warface Noise starts with the sounds of an air-raid siren & bombs dropping, this is a darker number that showcases the song-writing ability of the band even if the high-pitched wails that crop up within the song are quite irritating.

Revelaciones is another short & punchy song that drips venom while Altares de Pandemonium drags the hate out. By this stage of the album everything is beginning to sound a bit samey & with an un-inspired Madre Muerte you could be forgiven for thinking you’ve heard the best of what Goat Semen have to offer.

Stay with it though as Hambre is the best track on the album…a brooding number opening with roars of pure hate & defiance. Vocally different than a lot of what you’ve heard up to this point it is incredibly heavy & delves into the blacker side of metal. At over 10 minutes long it is an assault on your hearing but one that you just can’t tear yourself away from.

The final track is the album title, Ego Sum Sathanas & it is a strong finish to an album that isn’t exactly going to set the metal world alight. As a debut it is a strong start & one of the better sounding ones from the extreme metal side of things.