Band:	Goatsnake
Album:	Black Age Blues
Style:	Doom metal, Stoner metal
Release date:	June 2015

01. Another River To Cross
02. Elevated Man
03. Coffee & Whiskey
04. Black Age Blues
05. House Of The Moon
06. Jimi's Gone
07. Graves
08. Grandpa Jones
09. A Killing Blues

In the long history of bands who have risen back up after a long silence with a new album, we've come to have a small group of successful comebacks, and a whole mountain of shitty ones. Thankfully, this year, Goatsnake are sitting quite nicely in the former territory with Black Age Blues.

Devout fans of stoner doom will probably remember the name of Goatsnake, a crunchy, groovy American foursome including Greg Anderson (also of Sunn O))) fame) on guitar. Striking back with their first new album in fifteen years, the band are just as tight as ever, and appear to have not lost any of their stamina. The music here is incredibly catchy and bouncy, in some ways even more so than the band's previous material, with tracks such as "Elevated Man," the title track, and more being total earworms. As usual with Goatsnake, there's a very bluesy, sort of old school rock feel that is heavily present on Black Age Blues. You can feel it on some tracks more than others, but in general it runs all throughout the album, and the occasional use of harmonica, as well as the powerful, "aaaaahhhh yeeaaaahhhh" type wails of charismatic vocalist Pete Stahl, really help to bring that personality out.

Another highly enjoyable quality of Black Age Blues, even though it may be a relatively subtle one, is the guitar work of Greg Anderson. There's something about this guy's tone that is very recognizable, and those who are familiar with his other work will know that it's him playing on this album immediately. Of course, Goatsnake are a far cry from bands like Sunn O))) and Thorr's Hammer, but Anderson's thick, heavy-as-a-mountain guitar sound still runs solid throughout pretty much all that he's done, and you can definitely notice the similarity to his other work on this album if you're listening carefully (most notably on "A Killing Blues"). To say the least, it's pretty impressive that his playing can still retain its own distinct identity across radically different styles.

Trying to recapture the energy of their previous material after having not recorded anything in a long period is never an easy task for a band, but with this album Goatsnake are rising to the task and nailing it. The music here is memorable as hell, but not in a try hard way that sounds like a forced attempt to be accessible... Goatsnake are just great at what they do and know how to write powerful tunes that stick on you. It's great to say that in over a decade the band have lost virtually none of their potency, and seem full of momentum for whatever else they may have planned for the future.

Like fun, groovy shit? You know where to go.