Review Summary: Nothing Suss, Brother Man
Goatmoon's debut
Death Before Dishonour struck larger waves than most records of its ilk, putting to tape a style of raw, melodic black metal that was lathered with stereotypical pagan riffs, but still vicious enough to keep its underground cred. Well-received by fascists and fanboys alike, it sticks out like a sore thumb in the mostly feckless catalogue of pagan/folk mish-mash Goatmoon would release over the next decade - it seems fascists are as inconsistent with music as they are with ideology.
Come 2017 and Blackgoat Gravedesecrator has taken an even bigger bite of the fruity forbidden apple and his melodic black metal side is fully taking over.
Stella Polaris is a by-the-books melodic black metal record, throwing every convention at the audio wall, but by fuhrer does it riff hard - the record is remarkably well-written and manages to remain titillating, a nod to the talent that brought attention to Goatmoon in the first place. Even with its clean and melodic delivery, Stella Polaris rarely ventures into atmospheric posturing, an unfortunate reality of today's glam-y black metal scene.
Something shines through on
Stella Polaris which was also apparent on
Death Before Dishonour - that ancient feel, the one which draws listeners like myself to certain black metal records, is abundant. Melodic black metal as a genre is neither here nor there but I find it remarkable that this seemingly generic, Nazi-lite record has the pull that it does, The songs are varied and seamlessly flow through the motions before getting to the real kick in the face, the final track. Titled something unpronounceable in Finnish, it's a sh
itty out-of-place pagan rock song which absolutely ruins the album. Stella Polaris thus ends leaving the listener as confused and disappointed as this review will leave you. Don't buy this album, download it illegally and donate your dollars to a refugee charity.
