Artist: Goatoimpurity
Country: Chile
Label: Acta Nefanda
Formats: Cassette Tape
Year: 2026
It might be fair to say that even people who enjoyed Chilean Black/Death Metal band Goatoimpurity around the time their full-length album came out might have forgotten about them. This trio released their demo, full-length album and EP back in 2008, 2011 and 2014 respectively. To say they’re only active sporadically is definitely an understatement, and I have to admit that I hadn’t thought about them or listened to anything by them in years. So it was a big surprise to see that they’re still around and suddenly came out with something new. Although it isn’t entirely new material, ‘Taog Taog Taog!’ is a live recording of their concert at the ‘Decayendo el Horror V’ festival in 2023, but that shouldn’t dampen the fun. Incidentally, as a sort of bonus, a previously unreleased EP from 2017 has been included.
The most important thing with live recordings is obviously the sound quality. Although this sort of music isn’t really known for its layered sophistication, but still, live recordings can easily get bogged down into a big blur. That is not the case here. In fact, ‘Taog Taog Taog!’ sounds surprisingly good. As such, this live recording can actually serve as a sort of career overview or introduction.
The band proves that wild frenzy and barbarism are by no means incompatible with musicality. Especially in the slower tracks and the preachy, throaty semi-clean vocals, which, incidentally, come across much better in this live setting, Goatoimpurity shows that they have more to offer than one might initially assume. As a whole, it is also a valid conclusion to say that Goatoimpurity has outgrown their extreme primitive beginnings in favour of a more, dare I say, sophisticated sound – at least based on this recording. The overall variety, the slow pace, the doomy-aspects and the brooding atmosphere all add to the idea of a band in transition.
While some, or even most, of the observations above were already a part of the Goatoimpurity formula, it feels that the emphasis has shifted largely to a more well-rounded sound in the Black/Death Metal constellation.
The unreleased EP, which, as far as I know, was given the title ‘Noise Of A Decade’ and was recorded in 2017, that change does not seem to have begun yet. The EP tracks are still largely straight forward pummelling primitivism with only little hints of their more gloomy side. It is worth noting, however, that the sound quality on this EP is far inferior to that of the live recordings; it sounds as if a rehearsal set was recorded using a cell phone microphone. It’s still nice for fans to hear, especially after a 12-year hiatus, but I do hope that future work will sound more like the 2023 live set, both in terms of sound quality and intensity.
