KING GOAT - Debt Of Aeons

Release date April 20/18 (Aural Music)

I can understand why people seem to be drawn to this sophomore full length from U.K.'s progressive doom outfit, King Goat. The guitar sound is huge, as is a prereq for any good doom release. Further, the tracks build to crescendos, ebbing and flowing in dramatic fashion. Additionally, the vocalist has an impressive set of pipes, able to go from deep clean to inspired growl seamlessly (bringing to mind Primordial's A.A. Nemtheanga).

Unfortunately, while the above may be true, there are a couple of issues that cause me to pull back from this release. While the vocalist is obviously talented, he tends to over dramatize. In some places, visions of Jesus Christ Superstar (the musical) come to mind as he navigates through the vocal theatrics. Another issue for me is the length of the tracks. With most sitting in the 8 to 10-minute time frame, I found my mind drifting off, the music just not being interesting enough to keep me engaged.

That said, this isn't a bad album by a long shot. I just would have preferred some tightening of the tracks to a more conventional 5 minutes and holding back on some of the vocal histrionics.

[6.5]