Goetia bring D.C.-bred death metal to Atlanta
Written by Scott “SKAtt” Belzer | February 18th, 2024
Goetia.
Not Gotye. Goetia.
Remember Gotye though?
Goetia. The word means many different things to many different people.
According to Wikipedia, Georg Luck’s works Arcana Mundi: Magic and the Occult in the Greek and Roman Worlds as well as Witchcraft and Magic in Europe: Ancient Greece and Rome say ancient Greeks used “goetia” as a diss for “improper” magic and spiritual practices. Y’know, witchcraft. I’m not sure why you need two works to say that. I also don’t know why you’d spell Georg without an “e”.
Brazilian war metal band Mystifier used the word as their second full-length album title. So did Australian composer Peter Gundry. Those spooky Swiss rockers, Triptykon? They used it as the title for the first track on their first album, Eparistera Daimones. I don’t know what that means, but I bet it’s spooky.
It only makes sense that three really pissed-off death metal musicians from Washington D.C. would choose the moniker Goetia as they unleash unhinged brutality across the nation. The trio’s debut LP, Goetia, accomplishes in 17 minutes what many bands can’t do in 17 years: deliver fast, filthy riffs that pump you full of so much adrenaline that want to rip your clothes off and trash whatever room you happen to be in. Even if it’s your room. Or the office (but let’s be honest, you wanted to do that anyways, Goetia or no Goetia. Noetia?).
Listening to bassist/vocalist Matt Scott hit highs and lows is a clinic in crafting engaging extreme metal: his screeches and gutturals compliment the 10,000bpm onslaught brought on by bandmates Aidan Tydings-Lynch (drums) and Demir Soyer (guitars) so well that you forget you’re listening to a three-piece. There’s a wall of sound that exists despite all the logic, each verse pummeling you with blows, only slowing so you mistakenly lower your defenses. Y’know when boxers stand their opponent back up just so they can just smack’em again with another haymaker? That’s what Goetia does to your ear canals and adrenal gland.
It comes as no surprise that each of these guys has at least six bands on their resume, as Goetia’s sensibilities are too honed in. It’s mission is immediately felt and apparent, and there’s so much cohesion between these guys that you’d swear they’ve been playing together for at least 10 years. It makes sense they’ve shared the stage with bands like Fulci, Tithe, Profligate, Kommand, Ruin Lust, and Left Cross. If this EP is a sign of things to come, I’m going to need those things to come ASAP.
Goetia will be unleashing, well, Goetia on Friday, March 1 at Boggs Social & Supply. They’ll be joined by Severed Faith, Abattoir, and Nambil Mas. Gotye will not be playing.
Atlanta’s Severed Faith plays a brand of blackened death that’s sure to get those hips a-swayin’ and those necks a-bangin’. The grooves cannot be denied as vocalist Cory Menser growls along to trolling basslines from Case McCarty, Devin Autry’s earth-shaking drumming, and Kyle Caldwell’s chaotic, discordant guitar. There’s just enough atmosphere to take a trip inward, just enough playfulness to grin and move around, and more than enough riffs to make you raise your fist and salute the Gods of metal.
Atlanta tech-death quartet Abattoir recently released a thunderous, statement-making EP in 2023 called Weep the Putrescence. Over the course of 17 minutes, JP Burns, Josh Kerston, Robbie Cook, and Elliott Stotler show they’re more than prepared to melt your face and stir the pit for the foreseeable future. Like a lot of more recent bands, Abattoir gives hints of melodic psychedelia while also bombarding you with complex and punishing rhythms. It’s pretty! But it’s also brutal, brother.
If you haven’t seen the hometown heroes in Nambil Mas yet… well, I doubt we’d be friends. But we could be! This prog-stoner-sludge-post metal trio plays a chaotic, noise-infused wall of sound that is best experienced in a live setting. Songs continue for insane amounts of time. The energy of its members swell and swell along with nightmare-inducing melodies. You can’t help but go along for the trip, man. See this band. Love this band. Live mas for Nambil Mas.
– Scott Belzer
Tickets to see Goetia, Severed Faith, Abattoir, Nambil Mas (and not Gotye) in Atlanta on Friday, March 1st at Boggs Social are on sale here.