ALBUM REVIEW: Goya - "Harvester of Bongloads"

By: Josh Nichols

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 03/03/2017

Label: Opoponax Records

It is start to finish, packed with massive fuzzed out riffs, deep despair and copious nods to the sweat leaf that Goya pay homage to throughout the entire album.  Small wonder in the midst of our current political nightmare that Goya would drop a jewel heralding the end, before escaping in the smoky haze of their own retreat.

“Harvester of Bongloads” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Omen: I. Strange Geometry, II. Fade Away, III. Life Disintegrates (20:07)

2). Germination (02:18)

3). Misanthropy On High (11:46)

4). Disease (06:21)

The Review:

Arizona doom trio, Goya, return with their third full length, and none to sublte, "Harvester of Bongloads". Following closely on the heels of last falls EP, "Doomed Planet", “Harvester…”continues to plumb the depths of their disgust for all life on this planet, except perhaps for plant life, of which they are shameless proponents. It is start to finish, packed with massive fuzzed out riffs, deep despair and copious nods to the sweat leaf that Goya pay homage to throughout the entire album.

The entirety of side A is made up of "Omen", an epic twenty minute, three part epistle on the end of days. Part 1, "Strange Geometry", opens up to slow tribal drums and psychedelic warbling, courtesy of their Boss Dr. Sample SP-303, before thick bluesy riffing slowly builds to a fuzzy lament on pending oblivion. Part 2, "Fade Away", is mostly a jam session, acting as a bridge between the first and third sections, slowing down enough to gently croon the title several times before ripping into Part 3, "Life Disintegrates". The third and final act of "Omen" continues the downward spiral of heavy sludge doom in the finest tradition of Electric Wizardand Sleep, epic smoked out doom for the pending apocalypse.

Side B dishes up twenty more minutes of meaty riffs in three more tracks, which sort of act like another massive three part opus, but this time with breaks between. First up is "Germination", just a couple minutes of slow heavy doom that sets the tone and acts as an intro for the next track, "Misanthropy on High". “Misanthropy…” is monolithic slow and enormously heavy. Lyrically, the title speaks for itself, with each verse making its escape from the waste of reality into dope fuelled release, repeatedly echoing the double edged sentiment “waste away".

The final track, "Disease", sees Goya wading back into more uptempo Sabbath-esque doom. After two epic jams full of deep gloom, it's a welcome release when they open up the jam and rock out a bit. While lyrically it's still dwelling on oblivion, “Disease” is full of swagger, energy and a couple really killer solos. It's a hook laden finish to a dank and heavy trip of an album. Small wonder in the midst of our current political nightmare that Goya would drop a jewel heralding the end, before escaping in the smoky haze of their own retreat.

“Harvester Of Bongloads” will be available digitally hereand other formats here from 03/03/2017

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