Conduit, the new release from King Goat, is a mighty listen and is one of those releases you’ll keep wanting to revisit after the final chords ring out.
Doom is certainly one of those hit-or-miss genres, especially when it comes to the more slower paced stuff as it can sometimes be fairly difficult to properly connect with a piece essentially droning on and on, but King Goat is different and one of the first things that strikes you about the music is just how melodic it manages to be whilst simulatneously being heavier than a ten-tonne weight. The clean and crisp vocals work wonders for the band’s sound and they’re juxtaposed tremendously against the chunky instrumentation lurking beneath them – the two different approaches complement each other perfectly.
A particular highlight of Conduit is the middle track, which also serves as the title track. The wall of guitars at the start set the mood well and things progress well from there as the vocals kick in and the instrumentation takes a step backwards into a more stripped-back approach – but when the harsh vocals begin, the track does a complete 180 and it’s crushingly heavy to say the least. Another great element of the song comes a little later, in the form of some female vocals performed alongside the clean male vocals and it really makes the listener sit up and pay attention from how striking it is and indeed, you can’t help but want to sing along to it!
As a whole, Conduit is a great piece – King Goat have created something to be proud of and this is a band well worth keeping an eye out for!
8/10
