Music review: Mystifier - Goëtia (1993)

Hmmm, not an easy listen this one. Like most South American black metal, really, since unlike European's 2nd wave which mostly descended from the cold sounding Bathory, it takes root in the more primitive "extreme metal" of the times (Hellhammer, Sodom's In the Sign of Evil, Kreator's Pleasure to Kill, etc…).

Which is how we get the signature bestial "war metal" base sound Mystifier builds on. I'm usually not a big fan of fast tempo in my metal, but the Brazilians know how to introduce enough variation to make it tasteful.

Still, it's during the slower passages that Goëtia shines because this is where the sonic occultism befitting that title is at its vividest. Even if the intro is a tasty appetizer, it's only with the second track that we can get the full "human sacrifices and rituals in the crypt" bite promised by the cover art.

A paragraph must be dedicated to those vocals that allow the B horror movie ingredients to crystallize into something actually hair-raising: these barely human barks bordering on feral, rabid even, are just the business! Reminiscent of Attila Csihar on Tormentor's Anno Domini. Lovely.

That juxtaposition between brutality and gothic ambiance (and not the pretty, Victorian one you'd get from My Dying Bride) really is key to its memorability. And the dark, grimy yet clear enough production (NB: of the original master) is such a perfect match for the material!

My only complaint is about the aforementioned fast parts. "The Sign of the Unholy Cross" is too long and "The Realm of Antichristus" superfluous, they skew/disrupt the overall album's tempo to my ear; especially since they're full tracks and not just frantic segments.

PS: I don't think they're into the modern minimalism fad, look at these track titles! And their follow-up LP, concisely titled The World Is So Good That Who Made It Doesn't Live Here… =)