Goat Semen are a band from the capital of Peru, Lima, and they were formed fifteen years ago. Throughout those years, the band did record a couple of demos and they contributed on some split releases too, with the likes of e.g. Nazxul (the Australian one), Anal Vomit, Krieg (the one from New Jersey, U.S.) or Sabbat (indeed, thé Sabbat). Then, after the release of two live albums in 2007, activities were put on hold for several years. But then, finally, Goat Semen showed they were not dead (and forgotten) yet, coming back in 2013 with a newest demonstrational recording, Holocausto. And now, finally, the band shows up with their debut full length studio album, Ego Svm Satana, which was actually recorded as from 2012 (many songs were written long before!).
Ego Svm Satana brings thirty eight minutes of devastating, fast, evil and malicious Ooold Skool Death / Black Metal à la Blasphemy, Impiety, Sarcofago, Hadez or even earlier Sepultura and Mystifier. It’s like a compilation of late-eighties stuff based on blasphemy, war and misanthropy, defined through a sonic expression of anti-humanism. Actually, this stuff surely pays tribute to the old school (I will not tend to forget to name Venom in one way or another either…), with every element that does define that scene throughout the years: thrashing riffs, a couple of lightning-fast and melodic solos, aggressive grunts (with some ‘heavy metal shouts’), hammering drum patterns, a razor-wired sound quality, hypnotic leads, a stench of nunslaughter’ish faeces, and loads of goat’s semen enwrapping the whole…The whole ideology gets, by the way, summarized under the moniker of Hambre, Peste, Guerra Y Muerte, which is an exclusively lengthy piece, collecting most aspects this band stands for, and on top of it coming with a couple of self-faced interpretations of old styled aural violence, including some slower passages, morbid structures and more attention for details à la the bass lines and drum patterns.
Actually, this stuff isn’t bad at all. It contains about everything bands need to have in order to pay tribute to the grandeur of the scene. Unfortunately, I think there are several better alternatives lately. It’s not that Goat Semen do bore the Hell out of me, because they certainly do not; but I do miss inspiration, conviction and that something ‘little more’ that might make this band exceed the grey masses. …but I can’t find those specific elements. Therefore, it’s not a bad release, but not memorably outstanding either at all.