Goat Horn
Voyage to Nowhere (CD) 2001 No Label
Thirsty and miserable? I don't think so. These young Canadians have the first part of the classic St. Vitus formula down, but I think they are far from miserable. In fact, the evidence points to the fact that they are having a damned good time, boozing and playing their own particular brand of old-school-influenced doom, dubbed "rotten roll". The sound features classic wall-of-distortion guitar and bass, rough (but not brutal) vocals, and truly doomed drums creating a kind of mid-tempo noise that immediately made me think that these guys must cane hard live. One of the best tunes, "Eternal Quest for Eternal Happiness," was reportedly written in 20 minutes for an earlier demo session, and since the Ramones ruled, there hasn't been such a satisfying tune which was written so quickly. Although they've obviously been influenced by members of the old-school pantheon such as Cathedral, Wino, and Sabbath, they've also got a dash of stoner (Kyuss, 'Copters), black, and even death in the mix, and it works beautifully. And let's not forget that sense of humor. Does humor belong in doom? Write them at goathorn@drink.to and find out.	1. Goat Horn 2. Alcoholic Faith 3. Eternal Conquest for Eternal Happiness 4. Shattered Dream 5. Voyage to Nowhere 6. Wasted Warrior 7. Doom March Approx. 33 minutes
Reviewed by: Kevin McHugh
Storming the Gates (CD) 2003 October 32nd Records
'Storming the Gates' is the sophomore effort by Goat Horn, notorious the world over as Ontario's Drunkest Band. From thousands of miles away I've heard noxious tales of depravity about these guys getting totalled and playing air instruments to their own songs. It takes a special kind of musician to do something like that. In fact, "special" seems like a very appropriate word to apply to all three members of this power trio. Special as in: good songwriters, fine musicians, and not least of all Special Olympians. With 'Storming' the band has taken a quantum leap forward in terms of production and songwriting. Their 2001 effort, 'Voyage to Nowhere,' was an engagingly raw piece of work that threw in a diverse laundry list of metal influences to yield Goat Horn's unique blend of humour and sincere metal love. They've done it again this time, mixing in such elements as early Metallica, Venom, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, black metal, power metal, and just plain old metal to realize their vision of "Rotten Roll;" their own unique sound. Not to mention the fact that this seems to be a concept album about, yes, storming a castle. Or at least trying to. The main differences between the new disc and 'Voyage' are that 'Storming' is much more produced, especially on Jason Decay's verging-on-black-metal vocals, and that the new disc seems less doomy than the first, instead adopting a more power metal approach. Does it work? For the most part it does. It`s clear that, behind all the booze, these guys have done their homework, 'cause they're too enthusiastic about metal not to. The saving grace is that their humour continues to poke through, despite the increase in production values that might bury the personality of a lesser band. Long may it continue! In the meantime, this record is bound to bring them more converts.	1. Gates of Oppression 2. Rotten Roll 3. To the Cliff 4. Final Sentence/Finally Sentenced 5. Storming In 6. Fortress Doomed 7. The Last Force 8. Re-Animation 9. Fate Strikes Approx. 42 minutes
Reviewed by: Kevin McHugh