GOBLIN SOAP-GOBLIN OFFENSIVE

Upon metaphorically popping in Goblin Soap’s Goblin Offensive tape (although you can get the real deal here), I quickly in recording quality, atmosphere, and sonicality felt like I had returned home with a cassette tape of an obscure gem from the 80s I happened to find at the local record store. Dungeon synths lead us down the dank, dark steps into, well, the dungeon on the "Intro," and after close to a minute a squeal of feedback comes in followed by blackened vocals and finally the full band in all its ferociously abrasive lo-fi glory.

While the offering is clearly indebted to early-80s hardcore punk and that is the most obvious touch-stone, Goblin Offensive is also more than that in its intriguing fusion of sounds. D-beat, black metal (more in vocal styling, atmosphere/"vibe", and deliberate lack of polish), TSOL, and Joy Division—interspersed with these hellish dungeon soundscapes—collide in visceral yet often haunting fashion. This is blood-soaked ritual music, the should-be soundtrack to some of these A24 Studios films, or perhaps, as referenced on the Goblin Soap Bandcamp page, 1985’s The Black Cauldron (aka "the film that almost killed Disney Animation"). At any rate, the likelihood you’re going to hear this played at a neighborhood barbeque (unless it’s at my house) is pretty low.

"Cauldron Born" has a little more of a metallic hardcore-style riffing, albeit one run through the filter of Joy Division; "Total Extinction" felt like belonged in another 1985 film in Return of the Living Dead. "Side Quest" (remember: TO THE GOBLIN YOU’RE NOTHING BUT A SIDE QUEST) is the track I think most indicative of the band’s sound encapsulated in one song if you wanted to give someone a "bird’s eye" snapshot of what they’re about. Overall, Goblin Offensive is an interesting release that manages to seamlessly blend diverse influences into a unique and sinister—yet not without tongue planted firmly in cheek—whole.