Goat – Medicine review

However you take it – acid, stoner, psychedelic – the rock of the late sixties or early seventies always came with a good story. Whether the subject matter involved warlocks, naked virgins or apparitions from beyond the other side, nothing was ever undersold; Black Sabbath made a career out of it, whilst latterly a handful took it beyond the realms of just fantasy.

Goat are a Swedish trio who’ve suffused their reputation with tales of voodoo priests and other fantastical bunk and their career to date has suitably veered between the sublime and the ridiculous. Medicine however sees them retreat to a more welcoming spell book than it’s skronky predecessor Oh Death, a more harmonious approach that makes for yards more listenability.

Weirdly even alt-pop at times on You’ll Be Alright and Raised by The Hills, the presence of a flute on several numbers gives a distinctly tripping folk ambience to proceedings. But the visceral sounding highlight is Join The Resistance, even if it’s drastically cut down from the thirteen minute original made by fellow-Swedes GÅS. Radicalism and metal rarely mix well, but every story can have a new chapter.

You can read a full review here.