Goatwhore

Roskilde - 2013

Text: Tobias Nilsson Photo: Lunah Lauridsen

Goatwhore was the enthralling name of the first band for us on Saturday’s program at Roskilde.
Sure, we had already seen Henry Rollins, and our moods were all the better for it, but as this had been a spoken words event, the New Orleans gentlemen of Goatwhore would provide the first musical experience of the day.

“We are proud to represent some of the metal here at Roskilde, and we are very appreciative that you spend some time with us. Hail Satan!”
- Louis Benjamin Falgoust II (vocals)


To be perfectly honest, the name of Goatwhore was completely and utterly unknown to me until I scanned the Roskilde program for metal bands to watch. Yes, they were few and far between even though 2013 probably was the best metal year in years at the festival – hence we tried to get as much as possible out of it! After a very short look at what type of band we were dealing with here however, I wasn’t exactly convinced that I’d enjoy the encounter...
Their blackened death thrash mix was set to stir up the Odeon tent, the stage that held most of the concerts we were to enjoy this year, and the warm July afternoon had brought together a loosely packed crowd of metalheads awaiting the blasphemy that was about to hit the popular festival.
Music was quickly hammered out from the sparsely decorated stage where a few spread out cabinets were the only visual offered. This stripped down style was also recognisable in the bands communication with the crowd – apart from a short hello as they started out, Goatwhore chose to fill their time with songs from beginning to end, resulting in an impressive amount of tracks played.

These tracks displayed a certain one-track mind approach to writing music, although they possessed a certain groove that kept it from pure mind-numbing monotony.
What was the real saving fact for this band though, was not the music as such but the performance that came with it – in a sense the men on stage reminded me more of metal fans happy to share their efforts than of serious rockstars, and they made it work to their advantage! The delivery was tight and precise, drummer Zack Simmons sweated profoundly as he was hammering away on the skins and vocalist L. Ben Falgoust II was happily strumming away on his air guitar, when he wasn’t busy screaming his lungs out of course.
It may have been too early still for the most energetic response from the crowd, who probably was still a bit hung over after the excellent Kreator gig from the night before, but Goatwhore did make a connection, the loud and appreciative shouts in the short breaks between their songs proved that beyond a doubt.
Falgoust II didn’t have to ask twice to get all of our fists in the air for When Steel And Bone Meet, and short after he showed his appreciation by handing out a beer to a guy in the first row and raising a glass with him.
As the show went on, the crowd slowly but steadily warmed up to the hard working quartet, and in the grand finale with Apocalyptic Havoc, this was nearly what they got in the form of a wild circle pit. Talk about ending on a high note!

As we got further along with the day, I couldn’t help but think back and smile appreciatively at what had taken place in the warm Odeon tent. Goatwhore didn’t blow me away musically just as I had anticipated from my earlier detective work, our tastes are simply too different for that, but man they totally surprised me with that performance! A great way to start the day, that’s all I can say!

Setlist:

Collapse In Eternal Worth
Alchemy Of The Black Sun Cult
Parasitic Scriptures Of The Sacred World
The All-Destroying
Provoking The Ritual Of Death
The Serpent That Enslaves What Is Worshipped
When Steel And Bone Meet
Nocturnal Holocaust
Baptized In A Storm Of Swords
Death To The Architects Of Heaven
Beyond The Spell Of Discontent
In Legions, I Am Wars Of Wrath
Sky Inferno
Embodiment Of This Bitter Chaos
In Deathless Tradition
Judgement Of The Bleeding Crown
To Mourn And Forever Wander Through Forgotten Doorways
An End To Nothing
Apocalyptic Havoc

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