Goatwhore are an underground metal institution; they’ve been around for twenty-five years, combining black metal, thrash, and a Motörhead-like rock ’n’ roll energy into a you’d-think potent Molotov cocktail of sound. But until now, their music’s been kind of blah, the riffs blasting away and the drums pounding in predictable ways as frontman Ben Falgoust croaks and gargles lyrics that take the whole Satan thing way too seriously. Somehow, on their eighth album, all the elements have come together and they’re finally kicking ass the way they should be. These songs come at you like flying mallets, with surprisingly catchy riffs and dynamic arrangements, full of stops and starts, bolstering Falgoust’s admittedly still somewhat monotonous vocals. Goatwhore have never sounded better.