Album Review: Goblin Hovel – Gobischkevrot (Self Released)

A concept album in the truest sense, Genre-defiers Goblin Hovel are readying the release of ‘Gobischkevrot’, which blends intense folk-inspired metal with spoken-word narration from the Goblin RaidBoss known as Skraptif. The album recounts the story of a beleaguered clan of goblins seeking mystical power in a desperate struggle for survival in a human-dominated world. It will be released on November 22nd, 2024.

As fantastical as the story is here, Goblin Hovel cleverly find ways to connect the plight of the goblins with real-world issues. Which helps make it all so much more tangible, especially as it is a mammoth undertaking and focus is needed. It’s so much easier to focus on a tale when you can envision it and Goblin Hovel do an immense job of that across the entirety of the album. Not just with narration, but with a truly eclectic style of rock and metal.

Putting it simply, you don’t just listen to Gobischkevrot, you experience it. Hell, should you be so right-minded, you can almost live it. Smelling the dank cool air of the cave that you currently reside in and fearful of the monstrous goblins that hold you prisoner. Or perhaps you’ll find yourself living as part of the goblin clan who fought to survive in a world dominated by humanity. Regardless, who could ever have expected a fantasy-based story as told by a Goblin RaidBoss known as Skraptif to have such impact?

Such is the aspects of Goblin Hovel’s sound that blends audio-dramatics with avant-garde music and injects a welcome amount of humour into things too. Not only is it exceptionally creative, but every track offers something unique and showcases the impressive talents of a band who believe in what they are doing here wholeheartedly.

There’s something here for everyone, and while you will miss out on an incredible story by picking and choosing tracks, each does have individual merit. Take the first half of the record, for example. There is Ambush, that transforms from sinister melody and ambience into chaotically charged metal. There is the title track that seems more traditionally heavy at first, but quickly evolves into something much more diverse, and there is the fun folky sound of Voyage of the Grogswiller. Such variety, all equally lovable, and all made so much more important via fantastic narration.

The story being told here continues to get more elaborate and more fantastical as the album goes on. After all, these goblins are after a mystical power, and it involves a mountain that speaks. That is how we get a twelve-plus minute story-telling epic like Dialogue with a Mountain, but first, there’s the frenetic progressive power of Borokol Pt. II and the excellent Don’t Eat the Mushrooms. Which takes on the form of a doo-wop style track with smooth crooning vocals and jazzy melodies. That this track is dressed up as a psychedelic trip for the a specific goblin is simply fantastic, and very funny.

It’s time to go really big and go home, first with the inventive heaviness of Moon’s Fist. Then with a final piece of storytelling with The Night Man Learned to Fear the Mountain, and finally with the frantic intensity of Crineiga. This story might be over, but there are countless others still to be told. Based off the brilliance of this record, we should all be looking forward to finding out even more about these goblins.

Goblin Hovel – Gobischkevrot Track Listing:

1. Ambush
2. The Cave
3. Gobischkevrot
4. The Plan
5. Voyage of the Grogswiller
6. The Stowaway
7. Borokol Pt. II
8. Don’t Eat the Mushrooms
9. Dialogue with a Mountain
10. Moon’s Fist
11. The Night Man Learned to Fear the Mountain
12. Crineiga

Links

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