There’s been a lot of death metal unleashed on the unsuspecting public recently. New records from the likes of Aborted and Autopsy have received rave reviews across the metal world, especially here at OneMetal. But with so much deathy, angry material spewing out of the darkest and dirtiest metal venues, surely some has to be dud…right?

Blood For The Master is the fifth full length from Louisian growlers Goatwhore. The band name alone is the most death metal farmyard sex hybrid you can conjure, so before even pressing (or clicking if you’re modern) play, you have a vague idea of what you’re in for. Images of all-out brutality and bleeding ear drums swirl around your head like a sadistic fantasy, the joy of knowing your brain will be pummelled to pâté at the hands of one band’s pure hatred. These feelings, though, are swiftly whisked away once the music starts.

Opener ‘Collapse Of Eternal Worth’ kicks the 10-track opus off with an instant flurry of thrashing and snarling a la Soilent Green. The album then transcends into the realm of Children Of Bodom and Arch Enemy with the fast-forward drumming and guitar wanking opportunities maximised. That said, Alexi Laiho and Angela Gossow stand far ahead of Ben Falgoust – not so much for vocal ability, but lyrically. The vast majority of Blood For The Master is unmemorable and without any form of hook – it’s often hard to find the chorus.

Falgoust’s deathy growls and gutteral screams are indeed powerful, but never occur to be anything more thana nuisance instead of the mortal threat you desire. There needs to be something wholly unsettling about it, but Goatwhore‘s style is just too easy-going.

Musically, the New Orleans noisemakers fit the mould perfectly. The no-nonsense aggression is inherent throughout, yet nothing grabs you by the neck screaming at you to wake the fuck up. Yes there are some headbanging riffs on ‘Parasitic Scriptures Of The Sacred Word’ and ‘Death To The Architects Of Heaven’, which spread across the almost 40-minute runtime, but nothing you’re particularly eager to tell your friends about.

Unfortunately Goatwhore haven’t managed to ruffle any feathers with this record. With their last LP ‘Carving Out The Eyes Of God’ released in 2009, they just seem to be going through the motions. This isn’t the sound of a band who are striving to push boundaries or try something different with their level of aggression, it’s a record for Goatwhore fans only. You won’t find anything groundbreaking, just another dose of what worked three years ago.

Goatwhore’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/thegoat666
Metal Blade website: http://www.metalblade.com