Göetia

How can I define Göetia? One might say that it is a remarkably crafted work up to the finest detail, a slightly late first wave black metal album that blends to perfection the mentioned genre together with elements of death and doom metal, an exercise of high musical creativity with compositions that go out of the standard and a very rich lyrical content. An album that everyone I have been able to read talking about it loves so much, raising it to one of those rare gems that are not getting more praised for the amount of classics that came out in that golden age for black/death metal that were taken into account more than Göetia.

And despite all this, I am unable to engage with the album. I can see all of the mentioned above, you can really appreciate from the first listen that there is a lot of hard work put into the composition and production of the tracks. I take the very first song as an example, after opening with a mysterious and ominous sounding keyboard the first riffs make their way to a break that is divided in three sections, the first one shows the same riff three times until it breaks and starts again, that second time it is accompanied by a light percussion that accentuates the moment and in the third section all the instruments join and the song starts to progress. This is only the first two minutes of the album, but in a very effective way it sets the standards for the album. There are plenty of examples like that to be found throughout the entire work, which is full of subtle details that give the songs their abysmal aura and personality making each track feel different and progressive in order to avoid monotony. At first it seems difficult for the songs to get boring thanks to all these elements, however there are two reasons why the album feels too dense to me.

Even with all the creativity shown, Mystifier relies on the repetition of several segments, which together with others that are extremely slow and break the initial cadence, makes it feel artificially lengthened at times, I think the reason for this is because this work is an attempt of great magnificence delivered in all aspects, appreciable not only in the density of the music but also in the lyrical and vocal content. Just take a look at the album's lyrics and you'll see that they are vast, very long verses of a high literary level, however this causes my other big problem with the album, its lyrics are so over the top that in many parts it feels more like the vocalist is declaiming instead of singing, this in principle shouldn't be a problem because there are great songs that use that technique (A Fine Day to Die), but during the album there are several segments where the vocalist sings, so I see those moments of declamation as moments where he is simply unable to recite in time all the content and has to use that other style. Plus this happens to both vocalists on the album, so it fails to strike the idea that it was a problem with the singer's abilities. It's those artificial moments that I find boring and the vocal dissonance that makes me not being able to enjoy this work to the fullest.

It makes me especially disappointed that these negative parts became so evident to me from the first listen, because really the material itself is solid, in my eyes this Mystifier's work is the next step that Sarcofago's music should have reached if they had made the musical progress of "The Laws of Scourge" but without having drifted towards death metal, because as members of the Brazilian scene, Mystifier's music is strongly influenced by Sarcofago, you can appreciate several bridges in the style of the mentioned band or other bands of the first wave of black metal like HellHammer or Mortuary Drape (these last ones more noticeable in the theatricality imbued by the keyboards to the music).

With a music so focused on compositional work it's a bit difficult to focus on the individual players, obviously most of the attention goes to the guitars, from their powerful and malevolent riffs to the more melodic and heavily Venom-inspired solos, but even so I feel the need to emphasize Beelzebuth's bass that remains solid throughout the recording and is able to shine brightly in its short fleeting moments, Zé Luiz's keyboards steal the show on many occasions and perhaps the least remarkable is the drumming that works best when it is used as a percussion object, as in the example I gave from the first track, rather than as a rhythmic element where in my opinion it is rather flat and uninspired. But what I have to praise without a doubt is the mixing done by Michael Hoffman (ex guitarist of Sodom and Assassin) because the final result is excellent, everything connects perfectly and sounds where it has to be, without a doubt the strongest part of the album.

Göetia is an album that I would really love to like more than what I actually do, it feels like a fusion between the best of Sarcofago, Mortuary Drape and Necromantia that doesn't reach its maximum potential because of some factors that may be the result of its own nature, the desire to be so grandiloquent causes dissonances that would be unavoidable for an album that reaches in certain aspects the musical perfection.

When talking about early '90s black metal, most people generally think automatically of the Norwegian bands: Mayhem, Emperor, Immortal, Burzum, etc. or perhaps a random Swedish band or two, such as Dissection or Marduk. Many people seem to forget that there was black metal from all over the world during that time, such as Samael from Switzerland, Blasphemy from Canada, Profanatica from the United States, Sigh from Japan, and, of course, Mystifier from Brazil.

With some demos and a full-length under its belt, Mystifier struck again in 1993 with Göetia. The album develops what was already established on the previous album, Wicca, as well as the demos, not to mention building upon the foundation of Brazilian extreme metal laid by the legendary Sarcofago. The production is, in some ways, better than the previous recordings. The main difference I would point to between the first and second albums is the overall mix. On Wicca, the bass guitar is very prominent in the mix, while on Göetia, it is mixed lower, allowing the guitars to breathe a bit more and come to the forefront of the band's sound, along with the cavernous vocals. A good comparison between the two albums is conveniently supplied by the band through a couple of re-recorded songs, "An Elizabethan Devil Worshipper's Prayer Book" and "Cursed Excruciation". The sound on Göetia remains dirty and raw, but I would say it is more balanced.

While Mystifier is clearly playing black metal, it doesn't sound like the Norwegian stuff, even though there are still common elements between them. The guitar tone is less fuzzy and the vocals are more guttural, rather than the typically raspy approach found in most Norwegian black metal or modern black metal, in general, which adds a bit of a death metal element to the band. The tempos vary from slower to fast, but they are never snooze-fest slow or blisteringly fast (as in a band such as Origin). The band seems to really be in its real comfort zone in a mid-paced, with faster sections feel, when it can really develop a moody, dark vibe.

What I think makes these early Mystifier releases still stand up after all these years is the memorable songs. They don't just blur together as one giant song, with nothing really sinking in after you have listened to the album, even after multiple listens. I am talking about those albums that seem like first-time listens every single time. Even if I haven't listened to this album in quite some time, I can still hear various parts of it in my head and remember why I like the album, rather than that feeling of "I think I liked it, but I really couldn't tell you what the hell it sounded like and I would not be able to recognize a single second of it if you played it for me right now." I don't have every second memorized or anything like that, but I can remember what it sounds like overall and I can remember songs and what the experience is like. It also does not sound like every other black metal album at the time. Of course, you can hear some of the Brazilian metal tradition in Mystifier, but the band makes that influence into something different.

Then there is the idea of atmosphere, which is a term commonly associated with black metal. This album certainly has that. There is a weird, dark mood to this album, partly due to the fact that band is not afraid to slow things down and let the darkness develop in a song, as mentioned before. Another contributing factor would be the vocals, which are quite good and demonic-sounding. There are even numerous more melodic touches here and there, sometimes supplied by the guitars and other times with some well-placed keyboards. Many people dislike keyboards in metal and many others will say that keyboards are cool when "done right". I would say that Göetia is an example of when it is done the right way. It adds to the music, rather than getting in the way or overbearing the rest of the band. All of these elements give the album a varied, yet cohesive, sound and feel.

Bottom line here is that if you are a fan of second wave black metal and have not heard this album, do yourself a favor and check it out. And did I mention the cover art is excellent? It is. Spin this one if you haven't and spin it again if you have heard it.

Hailing from Brazil is the black metal band Mystifier, and this is another band that flew under the radar with me until recently. Now that their “Goetia” album has been re-released by Greyhaze Records I now have had the proper opportunity to give them a listen, and they did not disappoint by any means. Mystifier play a brand of black metal that is not soon forgettable. They definitely do not sound like your typical, or stereotypical black metal band, but that is definitely what makes them unique. Once you allow this band to infect your ears with their brand of music, you are on a musical odyssey that you won’t soon forget.

There are definitely elements of death metal here, but there is no doubt that this is predominantly a black metal band. What is really nice about this album is that despite being primarily black metal, Mystifier play their music in such a way that it exudes a doom type vibe although there are some faster parts in these songs. They play their music with such a passion, that not only do you hear it, but you also feel it. This music comes from a time when pushing boundaries was not even a thought in the minds of metal musicians, for as long as you were playing what you felt in your heart and being true to that form that is what was most important. There is an extreme ancient “coldness” to this material. This is something that comes from the void of nothingness to consume all ideals of what you thought was real and true in life. Reminiscent of bands such as Varathron, Mortuary Drape, and a nastier grittier version of Beherit with elements of Goatlord thrown in, Mystifier’s “Goetia” is a sonic journey into the murky and gloomy depths of Brazil’s black metal scene and it will enlighten you to the undeniable excellence of their song construction and overall mastery of the genre itself. No, there is not really anything technical here, but the music on this CD, from the riffs and solos to the unique vocal approach, sets this band apart from the others playing this type of music. Try picturing Master’s Hammer playing Goatlord’s “Reflections of the Solstice” with Beherit’s instruments tuned down to the levels found on Varathron’s “His Majesty at the Swamp”. Trying to find the words to do this album justice is frustrating because, just when I think I have described it perfectly, I realize it is so much more than I can give adequate credit for.

I am extremely thankful that I had the opportunity to review this reissue of this fantastic album. I am also thankful that I didn’t hear it until now for the simple fact that I don’t know if I would have appreciated it fully back then. So, I urge anyone who has thought of getting this album but never did to do so as soon as humanly possible. This is not only a definite gem in the realm of black metal, but a big piece of Brazil’s musical history. However, like I said above, this is not your typical black metal so be sure to have an open mind when you are listening to it. This is absolutely nothing like Dimmu Borgir, or Cradle of Filth or any bands like that. This is pure, unadulterated black metal in all its monstrous hatred without all the theatrics.

The Brazilian heathen-overlords Mystifier eminently return with their second overwhelming evil force. The music is a splice of early '90's black and death with centered occult influenced lyrics/song titles; their mind-set is far from being gore-whores or having strife with life like others at the time. From the previous output to here the production has more of an organic sound by comparison to how the production was processed on the first, and newest member Asmodeus's vocals are a further profane take on what Mystifier wanted to accomplish in extreme metal at this point.

Mystifier have some parts that come across as being influenced by Canada's Blasphemy and country mates Sarcofago on this release; they control the ladle but mix with some of the same batter, or course combining it with their own from-scratch ingredients. Essentially Mystifier took the foundation of what those bands did on their debuts and added more structure, song length, slower portions, better production and even included subtle and fitting use of keyboards. The main driving point behind 'Goetia' is the unique vocals. He combines an effected raspy voice with some extended and quicker sounding growls. At points it can sound like he's actually narrating during some of their slower sections with the abundance of words squeezed into the lyric sheet. Some of the lines he says like, "evil by evil," "fever, fever, fever...," "the baphometic goat," "we praise the unholy cross," with cross sounding like "croyss," and other seemingly ordinary or straight forward lines in their lyrics turn out to be extremely catchy just how he stretches or manipulates the sentences so it fits like a well constructed puzzle piece with the guitar riffs.

The guitars sound something like a low mixed but still thick toned hum. When playing slower the riffs don't contain surplus amounts of palm mutes or chugging, but instead employ an abundance of strummed chords or just simply use single down-stroked hits. When at top speeds they exert blazing tremolo picked segments with either pure aggression or some catchy devices to pull that head of yours back and forth. The solos are an added bonus: applying plenty of finger tapped leads that really work to peak the particular song into some climatic moments. The bass guitar played by main-brain/songwriter Beelzeebubth is heard mildly distorted compared to 'Wicca' where it was played clean and more audible than the bass here. You'd imagine that to be kind of disappointing, but I have to say the music evolves itself and has some more darker and thought-provoking pieces that aren't going for balls-to-the-wall aggression where a prominent bass in that context might need to stand out. Sort of how some of these thin-as-a-string-bean black metal guitarists have no bass in ear shot to back them up, and not every band can successfully pull that off even though this manages to. The drums are the last piece of damnation on this dark, heavy and ultimately returnable release. They have this certain kind of encompassing reverb effect on them giving it a somewhat large auditorium-like sound; it's especially pronounced when he'll "rap" that snare or just "tap" on those big toms of his. They recorded them evenly and all of the drums are mixed well without fading in and out; this is compared to other extreme metal projects at the time and also some other Brazilian bands that have come out with sloppy production done either intentionally or unintentionally. Rough, but not to the degree of burning your ears like sandpaper. Even, but not separated to the degree of leaving little room to the imagination.

Prepare to be held against your will by their influence, enough to ravage your home and abode by tearing your family portraits to pieces, knocking over a few heirlooms, then onto desecrating the rugs, walls, and even the lawn and swimming pool. Beware neighbors! Because Mystifier have proven they are the enticer, the suggester and the even the persuader when it comes to bringing tangible pitch-black atmosphere and bursting feeling to their listeners. Affecting our fragile extreme metal brains and turning us into a building crowd with a purpose. What's come out of this second captivating episode is 'Wicca' with a few more gadgets and features; something like a "Wicca 2.0." The varied song writing and tempo changes are further fleshed out, and hell even the more natural drum sound compared to the first, where it was either an electronic drum set or heavily triggered, sounds better here. The versatile vocal delivery from Asmodeus adds an improved essence to their growing devious sound as a band, where each song seems to bring out engrossing alternations and nuances that by the time it's over you'll plead for some more. If you're into early '90's black and death like Italy's Mortuary Drape, that didn't jump on the band wagon of Scandinavian black metal or go route of thick American death metal, then I highly recommend you check this out.