Goatsnake — Flower of Disease

Goatsnake is a doom-metal group from Los Angeles that happens to be on the greatly esteemed Southern Lord records.  This is a reissue of the Flower of Disease album from the year 2000.

Sure enough this recording does bring back memories of when I'd go to local clubs like the Bug Jar to go see some heavy rock.  Goatsnake have a bit more of a Soundgarden-esque grungy style than what Southern Lord is usually known for, though.  The title track starts well, although the vocals kind of remind me of Styx for some strange reason...  "El Coyote" is a pretty strong track with a good bluesy beginning to boot.

Of course after awhile, as good as this kind of fare is, all those heavy guitars get a bit mind numbing.  But then, that's part of the appeal of bands such as this.  It's well recorded and well performed, although probably not quite as memorable as much turn-of-the-century doom-metal.  But good enough if you have that heavy beer-keg party coming up...

So for fans of the doom-metal genre, you definitely can't go wrong with Goatsnake.  A really good blast from the past to connoisseurs of serious heavy rock.