Goatwhore's A Haunting Curse (Metal Blade) is the kind of record that can only be made when four pissed off guys have to endure circumstances that make normally happy people completely pissed off. Hailing from New Orleans, Goatwhore had to contend with the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina during the writing of this record. Angry and with their home city in ruins, they took off for Florida to record A Haunting Curse with Erik Rutan. Rutan was clearly able to channel their emotions into their music to come up with a record that will blaze its own trail of destruction.

Lyrically and musically, Goatwhore are black metal practitioners of the finest kind even though founder/guitarist Sammy Duet spent time in Crowbar and vocalist Ben Falgoust fronted Soilent Green, bands decidedly un-black. Stylistically, Goatwhore's sound is more aligned with bands like Nightrage and Darkane, which means that they are able to create some semblance of a groove amidst the chaos of blast beats. Black metal fury is easily found in all its ugly beauty on tracks like "Bloodletting Upon the Cloven Hoof", "Diabolical Submergence of Rebirth" and "I Avenge Myself". Drummer Zack Simmons clearly knows how to rip out blast beats at a carpal tunnel inducing pace. The real nuggets of this record are when Goatwhore add a little more groove to their songs. "Alchemy of the Black Sun Cult" is carried along by a vicious guitar riff that is sure to induce a bloody circle pit at their live show. "Forever Consumed Oblivion" sounds like a lost Satyricon track, while "Silence Marked By The Breaking of Bone" takes on an almost-hardcore stomp quality.

With grooves or grooveless, Goatwhore's A Haunting Curse is a fabulously pissed off record that is bound to bring a smile to even the blackest of hearts. They probably should have thanked FEMA for helping them to make a great record.

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