Golgothan – Leech
Release Date: 4th February 2022
Label: Lacerated Enemy
Bandcamp
Genre: Brutal Death Metal, Death Metal.
FFO: Aborted, Cattle Decapitation, Benighted.
Review By: Andy Spoon
Out of the balmy swamps of Louisiana, Golgothan emerged in early 2022 with their latest offering, Leech, a full-length album meant to mix it up with the likes of Aborted, Benighted, and Cattle Decapitation. Melodramatic Bayou horror themes are pervasive throughout Leech, giving the listener a sonic tour of white-trash gore content with blistering vocal and guitar composition. Clearly, the album undertakes to poke fun at the band’s Louisiana, USA roots, while indulging slasher and camp horror themes from 80s film, something that makes the listen feel like something out of a comic-book, an excellent concept for a band where the theatrical is so integral to its artistic presentation.
Vocal technique is stunning from the first song (The Rack), which shows absolute mastery of that gollum snarl that gets the listener’s hair standing on end. There is a niche for rear-placement scream vocals in music recently, Shadow of Intent, and Lorna Shore being exceptional examples of that gurgly, back-of-the-throat sound that vocalist Jai Benoix has employed in Leech to excellent effect. Benoix is an up-and-coming voice in this genre, Golgothan being a project which is likely to introduce his style and unique attributes to a wider audience. His relatively-small YouTube channel is a repository for some of his impressive artistic endeavors, and is worth a perusal.
The drum work is excellent, cycling between raucous blast beats, heavy groove, and rolling double bass rhythms to accompany the alternatively-chugging and wailing guitars which are featured so-heavily in the mix. One of my issues is that the snare drum feels a little too far back in the mix, with the bass drums mixed properly at the very front. It can get frustrating because I sometimes really had to tune my ears in to get the sound to come through the din, leaving some questions as to why that decision was made.
The third track, “Teeth to Eat You” absolutely deploys the stylistic touch of acts like Aborted, which features a 100% face-melting, chord-bending breakdown at the end which you don’t want to miss. If you like a good stereophonic mix, check out Bottomless Pit, where dueling guitar leads split the mix for a very wide sounding effect with the drums.
Aesthetically, Golgothan is a mix somewhere between Behemoth and Gwar, giving audiences that absolute horror/disgust Texas Chainsaw apparel, which matches the musical presence and lyrical/artistic themes. One of the things that I loved most about this album was the stunning artwork on the album cover. Benoix’s use of color contrast, and the recurring horror themes mixed with the swamp influence of the American deep-south gives Golgothan’s entire artistic persona depth and character that is reflective of things to come.
Does Golgothan deserve to be named in the same list as some of the bigger names in brutal death? Leech ought to be a testament that this band didn’t come out to test the waters. I certainly think that they are part of a new wave of the next generation of brutal death bands. Frankly, I’m captivated to see it at this level of quality art at these guys’ young age compared to their contemporaries. Further, Benoix is going to be one of the extreme metal voices in coming years, as I have no doubt that Golgothan and other projects will allow him to expand his artistic repertoire to the level of recognition it deserves in the metal community. 
(4 / 5)
