For nearly a decade now, Saskatoon’s own Lavagoat have been pretty much encapsulating all that is good in the metal underground. Ignorant and uncaring of what is fashionable, trendy, and liable to attract major label support, these noisy hairy Canucks have instead trod their own dark path through ancient woodlands, launching forth their own brand of fantasy tinged concoctions of doom, thrash, psyche and noise, all of which remain in regular play here at Spenny dungeons. To add to their oeuvre is a cracking little EP, ‘Ladies From Hades’.
After the intro ‘Lucifer’s Cathedral’, sounding like a sample from every seventies Satan worshipping biker movie you’ve ever seen, ‘Rite of Blood’ fires in with a fusillade of riffage, growled vocals, and more dialogue samples. Whilst their prior releases such as the stunning ‘Monoliths of Mars’ were inspired by the literary works of HP Lovecraft, Michael Moorcock and RE Howard, a veritable holy trinity of fantasy authors in my eyes, it seems that in order to prepare for ‘Ladies From Hades’ the band have been steeping themselves in a combination of Hammer Horror, exploitation flicks, and liberal helpings of smoky goodness, sounding the way that many of us wish Electric Wizard still sounded. ‘Night Hag’ continues the devilish theme of the album, but with a dirty proto-metal rock sound providing the musical accompaniment to the cinematic dialogue, whilst with ‘Bride of Mephistopheles’ things become altogether harsher and more extreme, visceral growls being treated to sound as if The Evil Dead’s human skin bound Necronomicon was brought in as guest vocalist to add even more darkness to the sorcerous instruments. Closing the EP is the eponymous ‘Ladies From Hades’, an acoustic number with guest vocalist Taylor Jade, an altogether gentler number that is nevertheless equally dark and menacing; this is a song that the Girl Guides of Summerisle could sing around the camp fire whilst working towards their human sacrifice badges.
‘Ladies From Hades’ is another fantastic addition to Lavagoat’s ever growing body of work, showing a diversification of influences and styles that can only serve them well in the future. Here’s hoping that one day either their travels bring them to the UK, or at least draw them out of the primal forests of their homeland to where more people can get to see them live.
(8.5/10 Spenny)
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