Album Review: Year Of The Goat - Trivia Goddess

I was pleasantly surprised when Year Of The Goat released "The Unspeakable", as occult sounding vintage rock is not exactly something I'm known for being a fan of, and yet their take on the genre was fresh and lively. That album delivered everything I could have asked for; organic sounds, hints of sinister energy, and memorable melodies that were sly invitations to the invocations. Their next album didn't hit me the same way. The pieces were still there, but the songs were further into the darkness, and lacked the sweet melodies that won me over the first time. I'm a fickle listener, I realize, but there was a bit less spark to the proceedings, and I haven't felt the urge to revisit that record in several years.

Six years on from that, the band returns with an album dedicated to telling stories of women's history, specifically relating to witchcraft. That's an interesting direction to take, and the band starts off by dealing with the original sin of misogyny; Eve. "The Power Of Eve" tackles the misconception that she is to blame for any of the sins of the world, rightfully declaring "God is the only one to blame". Think about it; an all-powerful being could have made humans without the urge to sin and break rules, and he could have simply not put the forbidden fruit in the Garden, but instead He chose to set in motion the nature of humanity He himself had created. How is that Eve's fault for behaving as she was made?

Perhaps I'm digging too deep into theological philosophy here because the songs on the album aren't giving me as much to talk about from a musical perspective. Despite the claim that this pulls in new influences, "Trivia Goddess" sounds very much like the band's previous works. There are slight differences, like the different vocal in "Kiss Of A Serpent", but those aspects are not changes for the better. The more I listen to Year Of The Goat, the more it seems "The Unspeakable" was a one-off moment of inspiration.

Albums like this one are enjoyable enough to listen to, but they don't leave a mark on me when they're done. The Scooby Doo-esque doom riff on "Kiss Of A Serpent" is nice, but when the song doesn't blossom into a memorable melody, the notes get lost as my attention drifts off. That happens most during "Met Agwe", the most doom song of the bunch, and one that drags on without a compelling musical idea for eight solid minutes. It's all angst without any of the underlying justification, a howling that never gives me a reason to care.

I suppose when it comes to the dark side, I prefer to be able to have a bit of tongue-in-cheek fun with it. That's what makes the "Dracula: Swing Of Death" rock opera one of the best albums of the last decade, and what is missing from most of this album. If you are trying to make the occult sound like a good option, you have to make it sound and feel like more fun than the path of belief. "Alucarda" does that, sounding the most like one of the songs form "the Unspeakable", and it makes the rest of the album feel dull by comparison. The harmonies are on-point, the melody is sticky, and the band has enough energy in their playing to sound like a concert in a pitch-black forest I would actually want to attend. Funny how that helps, eh?

After six years, I was expecting more from Year Of The Goat. Rather than writing an album that candy-coated their occult perspective with hooks upon hooks, they turned more toward traditional doom. Maybe that will work for more hardcore metal fans, but it doesn't work for me. I was hoping for Futurama's Robot Devil, and instead we got Calculon playing the devil. Similar, but not the same. Year Of The Goat is still good, but this is far from their best.