Goat River

Goat River from France must really love American Stoner/Doom/Desert Rock sounds because this 6 tracker CDR sounds straight out of the 90's Desert Rock scene. Sounding like a hybrid of Sleep, The Melvins and Kyuss. This band would have to be one the best bands I have heard from France in a long time, maybe the best since Rising Dust first hit the scene. The only downside to this CD is the bass which is mixed or buried way too far down in the recording, apart from that this is great instrumental Stoner Doom. The CD kicks off with "Only Living Is Dying" and "You Sure Need A Mustache" and it becomes clear early on that this band is intent on causing some serious ear damage, if only the flaws in the bass sound weren't there. The riffing most of the time manages to create a trance-like effect as this is so real slow music with a sound drier than the Desert they sound like they come from. The band already has a good live reputation and have gained a lot of positive reviews and this CD captures the live feeling for the most part. "Mount Rushmore's Mushroom" is basically one long acid trip in a musical form, the Psychedelic Doom/Drone sounds they conjure up sound somehow fresh even though the style has been done to death. The instrumental nature of the band seems to work, no real need for a singer here at all. For the first release, this is a damn fine 40 minutes of Stoner Doom with all the elements needed to make the music work, it just a pity the production is quite there on this. I believe their next release will be a split 7" EP with mountainous Stoner freaks Dispenser the Dispenser. That will be something to look for but what this band really needs is a full length album with balls and all production, if they manage to get it, then the future for this band will be a positive one. While there is nothing original about the material, they seem to be naturals at playing the style and who can say no to another band that sounds like Sleep or Kyuss ? 8/10

www.myspace.com/goatriver