DEAD METAL

Banished By Sin is album number thirteen from these death metal legends. It has been six years since Deicide 's last effort, and has felt like longer thanks to this one having been teased for so long - it was announced seven months ago, and we only got to hear the first single (which can be found at the bottom of this post) on Christmas Day. It will finally be released on 26th April, brought to us by new label Reigning Phoenix Music. The last couple of albums were excellent, so hopes are very high going into this one.

This is the sound of Las Vegas, apparently. Goatlord formed in 1985 and recorded a few demos, followed by only one album. There are two different versions of that album, however - the original 1991 Turbo Music mix, and the 1992 JL America mix. This write-up is based on the latter; or more specifically, the 2007 Nuclear War Now reissue of the latter (which you can listen to below, along with a couple of bonus tracks that have featured on some editions of that reissue). Reflections Of The Solstice is blackened death-doom greatness. Occult atmospherics, psychedelic flavours... sloppy and primitive, in an entirely charming way, while also being utterly commanding. It's a pretty unique offering, but you could make comparisons with Drawing Down The Moon by Beherit , Gloomlord by Worm , the  Hearse  full-length... It is certainly an offering that doesn't get nearly enough credit. Reflections of the Solstice by Goatlord