Arizona doom trio, Goya, return with their third full length, and none to sublte, \"Harvester of Bongloads\". “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 Wizard and 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.
Jeff Owens and company have always sniffed around the sludge fire hydrant, albeit cautiously. For “Harvester”, any apprehension is long gone, as the band thrusts forward and mark their territory with menacing abandon. Every second of this four song, forty-minute avalanche of sound is a testament to doomy, crawling, distorted, monolithic and awe-inspiring heaviness at its most extreme. Some may be a bit surprised though too, as Owen’s guitar leads and melody, coupled with soulful, agonized vocals actually make this hit even harder blasting the norms of the genre. “Harvester Of Bongloads” is a relentless listen meant to touch the listener’s most primordial inclinations. Goya’s best to date and essential to anyone’s collection that likes it HEAVY.
Review by Josh Nichols and David “The Lovely” LaMay
1. Omen: I. Strange Geometry, II. Fade Away, III. Life Disintegrates - 0:00
2. Germination - 20:08
3. Misanthropy On High - 22:26
4. Disease - 34:12
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