Records that make you feel that something is truly wrong are few and far between. After all, it takes serious commitment to make bile and rot convincing on record, and to sustain that feeling for a significant period of time. This was not a problem for Vancouver sludge-grinders Goatsblood however, who back in 2003 released the mercilessly vile Drull, a record that still sounds like humanity’s worst moments today.
Defiant in its slackened mixture of Burning Witch, Assück and Eyehategod, it’s even more appalling than its less-mentioned, self-titled predecessor, which had more in common with Primitive Man than Iron Monkey. Astral Noize decided that a band behind such a deliberately volatile morass of fetid shrieking warranted revisiting, and reached out to the band for an exclusive history of Goatsblood’s short and sweet life.
Thanks for talking to Astral Noize. What were the circumstances surrounding the formation of Goatsblood?
I think we got together in late ’98. Kurt (guitar/vox) answered an ad on a rehearsal space wall that Blair (vox) and Mike (bass) had put up. They already had a drummer, but after Kurt showed me some shit they’d written, I muscled my way in there.
How conscious was the decision to pool such a diverse amalgam of sounds? Did it form naturally?
Oh yeah, it was a natural thing. We just went for it.
What precipitated the band signing to Rage Of Achilles?
I don’t really remember. I think we put it up on good ol’ MP3.com and they heard it somehow.
What are your memories of recording the self-titled?
Just that we did it in one day completely live, except for vocals which were overdubbed. And that the guy who recorded it didn’t know what hit him.
There’s an incredible story about the band on the Willowtip records page. How did Goatsblood get on with the rest of the scene, if at all?
Pretty good, I guess. There were absolutely no bands like us in Vancouver at the time. We freaked out the shitty jock metal bands that the city was full of for sure. We found more friends in the punk scene. Big surprise.
For the full piece, including an exclusive scoop on the story of follow-up release Drull, pick up a copy of Astral Noize Issue 5 here.
Words: John Tron Davidson
