Artist: Barbaric Horde / Goatsmegma
Country: Portugal / Estonia
Label: Godz Ov War Productions
Formats: Split LP / Split Cassette
Year: 2025
With both bands having a long-standing relationship with Godz Ov War Productions as well as being two of the most crushing acts on the Polish roster, it is not a complete surprise to see Barbaric Hordes and Goatsmegma sharing one piece of vinyl (or a cassette tape). With my personal fascination for all things that sound remotely like Blasphemy, Sarcófago or Beherit, the surprise is actually more that none of the two bands were ever featured on these pages before. Time to set that record straight…
Barbaric Horde, a duo from Portugal, has previously released two demos (also compiled by Godz Ov War Productions) and two full-length albums and clearly have no means to even move an inch away from their initial musical formula. As a whole their take on the War/Bestial-kind of Black/Death Metal genre is a bit of the sharper kind, moving more towards bands like Black Witchery, Revenge and Conqueror, mostly punctuating the Black Metal roots. Fast paced, rather one-dimensional, it is hard to shake off Barbaric Horde’s apparent admiration for those aforementioned three bands, with Revenge maybe the most obvious one. Their remarkably well-produced music, at least for the genre standards, is something that shouldn’t be left unmentioned either. The balanced production gives the music an extra bit of sharpness around the guitars and the drums more snappiness – in the result, though, giving the vocals a predominantly secondary role.
Goatsmegma on the other side, is perhaps the most possible different kind of a band within largely the same musical spectrum. Whereas Barbaric Horde went for the static and rather stoic flatfooted and sharp-sounded pummelling of Revenge, Goatsmegma is basically its most primitive, caveman equivalent. Clearly more leaning on the Death Metal and even Grindcore cornerstone of the Bestial Black/Death Metal genre, it is easy to draw musical parallels with bands such genre titans as Blasphemy or even early Krisiun, as well as the more contemporary Tetragrammacide. Rough, barking vocals accompany the full-on barrage of hammering drums and grinding guitars. And, as opposed to their split partners on the A-side, Goatsmegama is not about producing their music at all. The drums are loud as fuck and the vocals overrule the most of the guitars, but, hell, that is exactly as it should be. If you’re going to be savage and merciless, you should be savage and merciless. Fuck off to nuance and finesse, nothing of all that is needed when you’re moving in these territory. While both bands have something great to offer within their own games, my personal preference it is definitely this “all hell breaks loose”-kind of approach.
