Goatpenis: Live in Brazilian Ritual - Third Attack (2016)

Goatpenis huh? 

Yep, Goatpenis. 

Goatpenis is a Brazilian blackened death metal band whose sound fits in well with the "war metal" moniker.  It certainly helps that the band uses a LOT of militaristic imagery and lyrical content.  I have actually been attempting to track down a Goatpenis release for some time, after seeing their admittedly awesome-looking logo everywhere lately.  I figured the universe was trying to tell me something.  However, their stuff is not easy to find in my preferred format.  This was the first one I could find.

Now, this is a live album and it is my first listening experience with Goatpenis.  Live albums are not normally the best way to introduce yourself to a band.  The last one I did this with was Black Witchery, and that live album was kind of a mess, though I later discovered how great that band is.  Unfortunately, this is the only Goatpenis release that has popped up so far so I took a shot at it. 

Unfortunately, this is likely to be one of those live albums that does not do the band justice.  I'm assuming that anyway.  The biggest issue is not the songs, but the sound quality.  It is quite clear that these songs are supposed to be punishing and intense, reflecting the harsh subject matter.  But there is a complete lack of any bottom end that saps the energy that is likely there.  In addition, the vocals can hardly be heard and there is some sort of odd pitch-shifted effect to them.  That might sound okay in a studio-recorded release, but does not really work here.

It is not all bad though.  The latter quarter of the album is filled with some songs whose intensity manages to shine through anyway.  "Roman Revenge" featuring Impurath of Black Witchery on vocals is probably the best of these songs, with a terrific opening riff.  The rest of the release follows suit.

So, this is probably not the best representation of Goatpenis's sound.  I will keep my eyes open for some of the other releases in the future.

Iron Maiden: Live After Death (1985)

One of my wife's favorite movies is Rock of Ages, which is a musical with an ensemble cast and featuring all rock songs from the 1980's.  As a result, I have seen it a number of times.  In one part, the female lead and the male lead are discussing rock albums and the female lead says that her all-time favorite album is a live album by this fictional band.  That has always struck me as kind of odd.  I have personally never cared all that much for live albums, but maybe I have been listening to the wrong ones.  There are a few live albums that are considered absolute metal classics.  Judas Priest's Unleashed in the East is one and this is another.

There is a reason that Iron Maiden continues to sell out large arenas despite the fact that they receive very little radio or television play.  They are without a doubt, a terrific live act.  I saw them finally a couple of years ago when they made their way into Nebraska.  Their explosive live performance shines through extremely well on this album.  The songs are all performed with a lot of energy and sound great live.  There are some minor issues with some instruments being a little too loud in the mix compared to others, but that is not that big of a deal.

This is a somewhat early release, so the songs are limited to those on the band's first five albums.  There are some questionable choices here.  It is not terribly likely that Iron Maiden will be breaking out the 13-minute long epic "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" too often nowadays.  It is a good song, just not terribly conducive to a concert.  And then there is the closing track "Phantom of the Opera", which is not a song I would have thought would have been a closer in a concert.  There is obviously some editing going on on the release and different versions have songs in different orders so maybe it was not the closing song.

The only complaint that I have is that Bruce Dickinson was having a little bit of a bad night.  He is not quite able to hit some of the incredible high notes that he did on the album versions.  This is particularly obvious in songs like "Aces High" and "Powerslave".  He avoids this issue by doing a little bit more of a hoarse yell that actually fits in well with the music.

There is a reason this is one of the consensus greatest live albums of all time.  Iron Maiden does a fantastic live performance and it comes through quite well here.  I still would not consider this a favorite Iron Maiden album, but it is damn good.  Maybe I will check out that Judas Priest album next.