Band:	Goat The Head
Album:	Doppelgängers
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	September 13, 2010
A review by:	Troy Killjoy

01. Neolithic Rocket Science
02. Uncanny Valley Clan
03. This Tube Is The Gospel
04. Salt
05. Bestial Domestication
06. The Hunt Is On (Sexy Son)
07. Reveille
08. Stirring The Enigmatic Appetite
09. The Ubiquitous Cube
10. Primal Caveman Death Metal

Death metal
Norway
Aftermath Music

Line-up on the CD:
Per Spjøtvold - vocals, keyboards
Ketil Sæther - guitars, vocals
Kenneth Kapstad - drums, vocals
Trond Frønes - bass, vocals

Back in June self-proclaimed primal caveman death metal gurus Goat The Head accounced they had reached an agreement with Aftermath Records to release their sophomore full-length, entitled Doppelgängers. Spearheaded by Atrox keyboardist Per Spjøtvold's distinct barbarian roars and war chants and Ketil Sæther's crushing guitar riffs, Doppelgängers is a logical progression from the taxing Simian Supremacy, although the band will need to do more in order to prepare an adequate assault on Blood Red Throne and Obliteration for the right to call themselves Norway's most prolific death metal band. (Admittedly, Norway suffers from a lack of successful death metal bands, but that doesn't mean the scene is entirely without talent.)

With the appropriate amount of "groove" and the added bonus of lyrical history lessons, Goat The Head are out to prove that 2010 is their year. Doppelgängers is a fun death metal album containing more hooks than the entire Saw saga, punishing the listener with relentless headbanging material from the beginning of "Neolithic Rocket Science". Most songs on the album follow a similar structure, which makes for an easy flowing release, albeit samey and ultimately unoriginal. The addition of scarce-used female vocals change up the pace just enough without weighing down the entirety of the music by overindulging in poperatic annoyance. This creates a sort of foreplay experience, and thankfully these Norwegian Neanderthals understand their primitive side enough to lock things down before getting all Draconian on us. As for Spjøtvold... His vocals may be a major turn-off for most listeners, as they aren't necessarily archetypal growls or screams or...any vocal style I've ever heard before. They are deep and the aggression is undeniable, yet at the same time they come across as hoarse and almost farcical. At times his voice sounds similar to Chris Barnes. Other times he sounds like a blubbering dipsomaniac.

Overall this record serves as a transitioning point for Goat The Head, as they may find they are leaving behind some of the fans of their previous album, but consequently they are moving into more mainstream death metal territory, meaning their fanbase should feasibly increase over the course of the next few months. And while Doppelgängers doesn't add anything new to the genre, these Norwegians are on the right track if they want to consider themselves in the same league as countrymates Blood Red Throne and Obliteration.


Website: http://www.myspace.com/goatthehead