Goatwhore occupy a singular niche in modern metal: beloved by many, but also mourned by a non-trivial demographic who bemoan the fact that they're never quite as heavy or evil as their name would suggest. They're one of the more well known bands in the metal underground, yet unlike other bands that occupy that same strata they don't enjoy the unanimous acclaim that a Dillinger Escape Plan or a Pallbearer claim almost as a birthright.
Perhaps a more worthy comparison would be Skeletonwitch, in stature if not so much actual sound. Both acts cultivate a focused, moderate position within extreme metal, not confining themselves to one specific genre but nonetheless hewing pretty closely to a fairly traditionalist, mid-paced backbone. Similarly, both bands are frequently esteemed mostly for their intense live performances, with the studio albums deemed worthy enough to get the job done but inevitably suffering next to the energy levels of their gigs.
In some ways they're a product of improperly set expectations. Journalists frequently describe them as "blackened death metal" when their sound really isn't that brutal even by old thrash standards. Those expecting blast beats and incomprehensible cookie monster vocals will likely come away unenthused. If anything there's an emphasis on groove here that only tangentially connects with actual death metal on the fringes of later Entombed and Carcass (though emphatically sans the technicality of the latter). In short, Goatwhore are content to rock your ass and don't aspire to much more than that.
Why this would work better in a live setting than on record needs little explanation, though a band needs greater reason to churn out a new record than to have new songs to play in concert (theoretically, at least… roughly 40% of the metal bands on the planet have yet to be informed of this maxim). In Goatwhore's case they've never needed to apologize for pumping out new material, if it happens to be a secondary concern to a certain portion of their fans.
Although this may not yet qualify as consensus, I believe that 2012's Blood for the Master is the album to beat up to this point in the Goatwhore catalog. Constricting Rage of the Merciless storms out of the gate with this exact purpose seemingly in mind, the fired up propulsion of "Poisonous Existence in Reawakening" establishing itself fairly quickly as one of the band's faster songs before settling into a more relaxed, yet even catchier groove. On the very next track, "Unraveling Paradise" opens with… blast beats! They quickly subside, of course – this band isn't trying to become the second coming of Fuck the Facts – but the velocity is kept at untempo, somewhat moody peak throughout.
Shit, Goatwhore even try their hand at a swinging boogie groove not once but twice ("FBS", "Baring Teeth for Revolt"), which shows a willingness to mix it up a bit while not really straying all that far from the formula that's worked for them thus far. With a beefier production – courtesy of Eric Rutan – and greater range of styles present, Constricting Rage of the Merciless definitely stakes a claim as the new high water mark of the group's work thus far. Just barely, though, and some fans may prefer the more thematically cohesive restraint of Blood for the Master. Either way, this is the closest Goatwhore have come to bottling the blistering energy of their live show on vinyl, though it also goes a long way toward proving that they're unlikely to ever entirely get there.
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