High Speed from Hell

Considering this album was written, played and recorded by two kids from Costa Rica you have to admit the result is pretty impressive. Black/thrash with hints of d-beat and lots of balls. Songs are simple in terms of technicality but the raw energy from the 80s is definitely there. Anthony Umaña was in charge of recording the album -that sounds amazing for a home studio output- and the guitars and drums. Christo Vega pulled out vocal and bass guitar duties.

Goat Rider’s lyrical concept and imagery deals with Japanese culture. Ironically or not, the goat riding a motorcycle with the imperial flag looks so cool on the cover! The punky drumming is fairly simple too but the upbeat tempo of the songs has a lot of drive, some basic snare breaks are occasionally thrown in to mark the changes in riffing every 4 bars… you could say there’s some Mötörhead influence there. The riffing is a little bit more obscure, styled like Manta’s from Venom but still with some shades of traditional r’n’r (black and roll?) Bass guitar is heavily distorted and usually just accompains the guitar, there’s no need for anything else really.

Vocals on the other hand are completely mean, high pitched black metal shrieks that resemble early Bathory’s work. In terms of production the mix of the album is kind of dry, there’s a little reverb on the guitar tone but everything sounds legible all the time. If you’re into the aforementioned bands there’s no chance you won’t like this. Generation Z is commonly labeled as a crystal generation, it's very pleasing to me that there are still teen metal maniacs keeping the flame alive with such good taste and songwriting abilities. Give this record a listen, it’s on Spotify; and buy it if you like it.

Talking about this release could take me centuries, since honestly I'm still shocked with the album. Goat Rider plays Black Speed ​​the way I like it, direct, raw, full of Rock and Roll and best of all full of blasphemy and alcohol .

The band with this debut EP achieves what many bands from Costa Rica that have been living for years under the slogan of Speed ​​and poser dies, have not achieved and is to release a record of this magnitude.

Goat Rider simply released one of the best releases of this year in the Costa Rican scene.

The album presents us with a fairly good and a bit of clean production when it comes to mixing, you can listen clearly each instrument, of course without losing the rawness and strength of the band something to rescue, since songs like “Sadistic Aggressor” are a blow to the face and with a very clear production I think that it would not achieve its objective, and that is to create an infernal head banging.

Another song is "Cry Baby" which is a perfect mix of Rock and Roll and punk which is a perfect piece for the album. This type genre mix is a high point since it does not stray from the band's Black Speed ​​sound, which is demonstrated in songs like "Blasphemy" or "High Speed ​​from Hell"

The song "Blasphemy" has a classic riff sequence which blends perfectly with the drum speed, a clear example of how slow riffs can be played on a fast song. I think that makes the overall album composition sound as if it were a classic band from the 80's but with a better production. This is noticeable in the song "Hail Bathory" which begins with a half time and some harmonies on the guitar and then attacks with quite punk riffs and quite a drums sticky, the legitimate D-beat in a metal song, plus the song has the chorus that sticks in your head for days.

The vocal work reminds me a lot of Joe from Toxic Holocaust, in fact I could say that he is like the most prominent influence in the band, although the lyrics and some riffs could have come perfectly from a Bestial Mockery album!

"High Speed ​​From Hell” delivers and in a few years will become in “ a cult material” on the Latin American scene.

I came across this Costa Rican black/thrash metal band while doing my usual run through the similar videos tab on you-tube. I was just done listening to Aura Noir and decided to give this band and release a chance. Apparently, this is the first ever release by Goat Rider, and holy hell, they have pulled off quite an impressive feat since this band is still in the stage of infancy.

Even though Goat Rider haven't been around for so long, listening to this album without any sort of context would definitely lead you to the false believe that this band is an unknown veteran within the Costa Rican extreme metal scene. All the traits which make an album great, are present here. Goat Rider sticks to the classic formula of black/thrash followed by bands such as Barbatos and Aura Noir. Although most songs do not really bring anything new to the table, they keep you entertained for the whole duration of the album. This is mostly due to the amazing guitar-shredding skills of the lead guitarist, the haunting and distant aura which covers the demonic vocals in a satanic shroud, the entrepreneurial nature of the bass-lines and lighting-fast drum patterns.

The riffs on this album are mostly fast paced power-chord driven passages, and even though most riffs have the same basic nature, there is still enough variety to keep the guitar work the focal point of this full-length album. When it comes to solos, the guitarists prove to be quite competent in crafting speedy solos akin to a train going at full-speed without any means or desire to come to a halt. The lyrical content is nothing special and follows in the footsteps of other bestial/war metal bands by writing bellicose and hateful anti-christian verses.

The least impressive song on this album is called "Crybaby", which also happens to be the shortest song on this already very succinct album. I don't know how to describe this song effectively. All the vocalist does in this song is scream "Crybaby" over and over again which becomes very annoying and extremely cheesy. The song which follows "Crybaby" is called "Hail Bathory" which starts out as an obvious overture to the classic band which bears the name of "Bathory", but develops into a shredding mad-house. Unfortunately, this album is only twenty four minutes long and therefore there isn't much variety to truly make Goat Rider stand out from the horde. The production is crystal-clear and every single element feels balanced. I would strongly suggest this album to anyone who is into more straight-forward, thrash-inspired extreme metal.