Goatmoon -Voitto tai Valhalla
2014 / Folk Black Metal
1. Intro
2. Voitto tai Valhalla Part I
3.
Voitto tai Valhalla Part II: Valkoinen maa
4. Desecration
5. Way of the Holocaust Winds
6. And the Tears of Our Fatherland Fell
7. October's Blood
8. Vääräoppisen tuhovärssy
9. Descent, Ascent and Conquer
10. Race of Heroes
tp5170: I was pretty sure that ‘Varjot’ was going to remain as the
pinnacle of Goatmoon releases for a longer time as it was overall pretty decent
album and also a step into a slightly different direction for the band. But despite
being an improvement and having its moments, ‘Varjot’ still contained a number
of flaws, and like every other Goatmoon release, I thought it was lacking
something.
So, I wasn’t originally too excited about ‘Voitto Tai
Valhalla’ and it was only after I realized that they had shifted the band’s
sound from pretty standard black metal to folk BM when it caught my eyes.
Now that I have listened to the album a couple of times I
have to say up front that in my opinion Goatmoon has never sounded better than
on ‘Voitto Tai Valhalla’. At some points during the album the folk elements
might be a bit overwhelming for my taste, but generally the folkish style fits
really well into the mix.
As far as I can tell, the songwriting has also taken a huge
leap forward and there was not a single song that wouldn’t have entertained me
at least on some level. Unfortunately the lyrics have not improved, but on the
other hand I knew to expect as much. Vocals themselves are great. BlackGoat has
stuck to his personal way of doing the BM vocals and the occasional clean vocals
fit the style of the album.
I also have to give credit for the album being so versatile.
All the songs are rather distinguishable; for example ‘Way of the Holocaust
Winds’ is clearly more of an atmospheric track, where as ‘Voitto tai Valhalla
Part I’ plays the role of a cheesy opening track to get the listener’s blood
running.
All in all, like I said, I have been having way more fun
with this album than I expected.
Favourite tracks: ‘Way of the Holocaust Winds’ and ‘Voitto
Tai Valhalla Part II: Valkoinen Maa’
Orostider: The synth intro reminds me of Beherit's electronic era and won't give away that I'm spinning a Goatmoon album. Goatmoon is both loved and hated quite widely. The lover group consists of both the people who agree with their political views and the people who don't. The haters on the other hand usually do so due to the political disagreement. In my opinion, a band shouldn't be bashed solely due to their lyrical content, but people are free to have different opinions.
Musically the album struck me as a surprise. The album mainly consists of folk black metal, rather jolly sounding if I may, but leaves room for other elements too. The usage of folk instruments, like Jew's harp, fits the album's overall mood and the sound sometimes reminds me of Korpiklaani gone black metal or Moonsorrow, in a way. The variation is mainly between folky and cheery black metal and more atmospheric black metal. 'Way of the Holocaust Winds' is a good example of a more atmospheric song and musically it reminds me of Dråpsnatt.
People are free to think what they think of Blackgoat, but his vocals shouldn't be ignored purely based on disliking the character behind them. The vocals are wicked and harsh, representing the top partition of black metal vocals.
Lyrical content is what is expected from Goatmoon. It's a good thing that the lyrics aren't audible, as they are edgy as hell and aren't even well written. Being critical is always allowed, but the ideology shouldn't be used as an excuse to write low quality lyrics. But bashing the whole album just because of political correctness is wrong. Black metal has never been about asking forgiveness or being appropriate. You are allowed to dislike the band due to the lyrical content of course, but judging the listeners is just plain stupidity. This doesn't only apply to black metal, but to other genres too and also applies to both left and right wing ideologists.
Aside from the lyrics, the album is a really solid one. The sound is occasionally too cheery and folky for me, but the album is well constructed and everything sounds intact.
btcarey: “Voitto Tai Valhalla” is a folk infused black metal album
that solidifies Goatmoon’s role as a leader in Finland’s underground black
metal scene. The band’s impressive career is built off consistent releases from
the past 15 years, with several albums widely considered black metal classics.
Their previous full-length album, “Varjot”, is one of my personal favorites,
and stands as one of my top folk/black metal releases today.
“Voitto Tai Valhalla” is a much more folk oriented black
metal album than Goatmoon’s other previous releases. The utilization of folk
instruments like flute, jaw harp, and keyboards play a major role in the song
writing, contrary to the past, where folk instruments were purely for support
purposes. The new focus on the folk aspects really revitalizes Goatmoon’s
sound, providing a depth to the music that was nonexistent in previous
releases. This can best be heard on my favorite folk-driven track “Voitto Tai
Valhalla Part II: Valkoinen Maa”.
Even though the album is “good” it’s not perfect. I usually
don’t care about production quality but in this case, I really feel like
Goatmoon should have mixed the record differently. Don’t get me wrong; the
production is good… it’s just a bit too good. The album is so clean and crisp
it takes away from Goatmoon’s rawness and aggression, which is a very important
aspect for me. This being said, I recently heard Goatmoon’s latest song “Kansojen
hävittäjä”, from their split “Kansojen hävittäjä / Crushing the Maccabees”, and
it was perfect. Not only did it have the folk focus of “Voitto Tai Valhalla”,
but it had the raw, dirty mix of their classics.
While “Voitto Tai Valhalla” isn’t a perfect album, and not
Goatmoon’s greatest, it sets the stage for their future and has me yearning for
their next releases.
Favorite Songs: “Voitto Tai Valhalla Part II: Valkoinen
Maa”, “Way of the Holocaust Winds”
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