Filthy Music Review - 'A Transylvanian Funeral: Gorgos Goetia'

A Transylvanian Funeral – Gorgos Goetia (2013)

Forbidden Records

Review by Jude Felton

As winter draws kicking and screaming to an end, with several inches of snow and ice in the middle of March, it seems just fitting to be listening to this raw and ugly album from A Transylvanian Funeral. Gorgos Goetia is the third album from this US based band, although the first to savage my ears, and it’s a challenging yet rewarding listen.

First off, the 12 tracks run to a total of 72 minutes, so you’re going to have to dedicate a little time to fully absorb it, and believe me it is well worth it. On a first listen I just heard a very primitive old school style black metal album, and for all intents and purposes that is what it is. However, within this slice of cacophonic guitars and drums is pretty damned good album. Having been on a complete black metal listening kick of late I have heard a mix of excellent and the completely forgettable, so it has been made easier to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak.

Gorgos Goetia has an incredibly raw sound and feel to it, in terms of the production and sound; you are not going to get anything remotely resembling polished here. Hell no. The guitar sound cuts through the air like a well-used razor, designed to take chunks of your flesh; there is no room here for clean cuts. Sleepwalker is intent on battering you with primal sounds as he screams forth the lyrics to songs that aren’t afraid to go off on a tangent.

Gorgos Goetia may well not be to everyone’s liking, and could be seen as slightly self-indulgent due to the mammoth running time, but for those that are willing to give it the time and effort I think it deserves, will be rewarded with a fascinating old school style black metal album.

Obviously with an album of this length there are highs and low, yet tunes such as Night Hags and Burning Astral Hunger are quite superb, and the album on the whole is a terrific listen.

Winter may well be trying to draw to a close, but listening to A Transylvanian Funeral will ensure the long cold months linger on in your head. 

Tracklist:

1. Cold Blood And Darkness

2. Burning Astral Hunger

3. Light Cast Out

4.The Supreme Rite Of Transmutation

5. Fear

6. Mars Exhalted In Capricorn

7. Moonchild

8. Night Hags

9. Percival In Black Armour

10. Ten Of Swords

11. Hymn To A Gorgon

12. Goliath Ressurected

Gorgos Goetia is released by Forbidden Records on March 20th and can be purchased here, or at the link below.