I remember it like it was yesterday. Well kind of like it was yesterday at least. I was young and a sucker for those old 'sales pitch'
stickers that all the record labels put on CDs back then. With me being a die hard death metal head at the time and the sticker saying
'featuring Mitch Harris of (the cool) Napalm Death and (the even cooler) Righteous Pigs', I was sold. What I ended up hearing when I
got the disc home was not at all what I was expecting and it shook my world. Never before had I heard such a blackened approach
to Metal. It was grim, it was raw, it was different, and it changed everything. It was Goatlord's 'Reflections of the Solstice'.
A sadly short lived band that actually became more prolific a decade plus after their disbanding due to Nuclear War Now's commitment
to digging up underground and unreleased gems. One listen to their 'Distorted Birth' release and you can feel the savage and primal
nature of the material.
When did the band form? How did you meet each other to form Goatlord?
The band formed in 1985. I met a guy in school his name was Hal and he played bass. We decided to get together and jam one day.
We played a few times and he told me that a friend of his who played guitar was moving to Las Vegas from Milwaukee named Joe
Frankulin. So when Joe showed up we all got together. After a few practices Joe and I decided that Hal didn’t really fit in with what
we were trying to do so we got rid of him. I knew Ace for a while and we asked him if he wanted to sing for us and he said yes. We
found Jeff our new bass player from a friend and so the line up was complete.
Any interesting stories for the early years of Goatlord 1992?
Well there are a lot but I have a hard time remembering most of them. We were just four dudes that liked the same styles of metal
and like to party a lot. How we got anything done was a miracle. We did a lot of drugs.
What was your opinion of the black metal scene of the early 90's?
Well as far as black metal back then we were heavily into Bathory Out of all the genres of metal black was the style that I was least
into. I was more into death and doom metal, but still listened to black metal every now and then. There were not too many black
metal bands around yet and I think the music was much better. Today it doesn’t seem as real. It’s a little watered down now.
Who designs your album covers?
Chris Moyen. He started doing his art around the same time that our band formed. He has done hundreds of covers since then and is
still doing art for my new band Spun In Darkness. Chris is one of the best black and death metal artists out there.
Mitch Harris was a guest vocalist at one point. Could you tell us about this?
Well after the band had been together for about 5 or 6 years we were getting kind of burnt out. We didn’t play a lot of shows
because there were no places to play in Vegas back then. So our friends were starting a band called Doom Snake Cult. They needed
a singer to lay down some tracks for their demo so they asked Ace. He said yes and after a while he was kind of in their band. Right
after that is when we got our deal with Turbo music and we were going in the studio to record. We asked Mitch if he would lay
down the vocals for us, and he agreed. At the last minute we decided to ask Ace if he would do it because it was the right thing to
do. Anyway we let Mitch do some backing vocals and the chorus on Underground Church. It all worked out in the end.
Doom Snake Cult was an early incarnation of Goatlord. Do I have this right? Could you tell us about the band "Doom"? Was this a black
metal band?
As I said in the previous question the band was formed after Goatlord had been around for a while. Our good friends Paul Brady,
Roger Lafoon and Glen Bonner started the band. Doom Snake was more of a stoner rock / doom death band. They were very raw
but had a killer sound. Doom Snake was very underrated.
Do you still see original vocalist Ace Still?
Ace moved to Los Angeles after the band split. I do see him when he comes to town every few years.
Will the tapes with Mitch Harris ever be released?
That is a myth. There are no tapes with Mitch. I think Joe inadvertently started that roomer because no one asked us these
questions until years after the band broke up. I don’t ever remember Mitch laying down full track on Reflections. We have the Master
reels and they are being evaluated by an outside source to let us know for sure but trust me they don’t exist.
What lies in the future for the band?
Well Goatlord has been broke up since I think 1993. The band seems to grow in the underground every year. Every now and then
someone contacts us about re-releasing something the band did, which is very cool. As far as the band itself it will never reform. I am
the only one doing anything musically right now. I formed a new band in 2005 called Spun In Darkness. Please check us out www.
spunindarkness.com.
WEB: www.myspace.com/goatlordusa
stickers that all the record labels put on CDs back then. With me being a die hard death metal head at the time and the sticker saying
'featuring Mitch Harris of (the cool) Napalm Death and (the even cooler) Righteous Pigs', I was sold. What I ended up hearing when I
got the disc home was not at all what I was expecting and it shook my world. Never before had I heard such a blackened approach
to Metal. It was grim, it was raw, it was different, and it changed everything. It was Goatlord's 'Reflections of the Solstice'.
A sadly short lived band that actually became more prolific a decade plus after their disbanding due to Nuclear War Now's commitment
to digging up underground and unreleased gems. One listen to their 'Distorted Birth' release and you can feel the savage and primal
nature of the material.
When did the band form? How did you meet each other to form Goatlord?
The band formed in 1985. I met a guy in school his name was Hal and he played bass. We decided to get together and jam one day.
We played a few times and he told me that a friend of his who played guitar was moving to Las Vegas from Milwaukee named Joe
Frankulin. So when Joe showed up we all got together. After a few practices Joe and I decided that Hal didn’t really fit in with what
we were trying to do so we got rid of him. I knew Ace for a while and we asked him if he wanted to sing for us and he said yes. We
found Jeff our new bass player from a friend and so the line up was complete.
Any interesting stories for the early years of Goatlord 1992?
Well there are a lot but I have a hard time remembering most of them. We were just four dudes that liked the same styles of metal
and like to party a lot. How we got anything done was a miracle. We did a lot of drugs.
What was your opinion of the black metal scene of the early 90's?
Well as far as black metal back then we were heavily into Bathory Out of all the genres of metal black was the style that I was least
into. I was more into death and doom metal, but still listened to black metal every now and then. There were not too many black
metal bands around yet and I think the music was much better. Today it doesn’t seem as real. It’s a little watered down now.
Who designs your album covers?
Chris Moyen. He started doing his art around the same time that our band formed. He has done hundreds of covers since then and is
still doing art for my new band Spun In Darkness. Chris is one of the best black and death metal artists out there.
Mitch Harris was a guest vocalist at one point. Could you tell us about this?
Well after the band had been together for about 5 or 6 years we were getting kind of burnt out. We didn’t play a lot of shows
because there were no places to play in Vegas back then. So our friends were starting a band called Doom Snake Cult. They needed
a singer to lay down some tracks for their demo so they asked Ace. He said yes and after a while he was kind of in their band. Right
after that is when we got our deal with Turbo music and we were going in the studio to record. We asked Mitch if he would lay
down the vocals for us, and he agreed. At the last minute we decided to ask Ace if he would do it because it was the right thing to
do. Anyway we let Mitch do some backing vocals and the chorus on Underground Church. It all worked out in the end.
Doom Snake Cult was an early incarnation of Goatlord. Do I have this right? Could you tell us about the band "Doom"? Was this a black
metal band?
As I said in the previous question the band was formed after Goatlord had been around for a while. Our good friends Paul Brady,
Roger Lafoon and Glen Bonner started the band. Doom Snake was more of a stoner rock / doom death band. They were very raw
but had a killer sound. Doom Snake was very underrated.
Do you still see original vocalist Ace Still?
Ace moved to Los Angeles after the band split. I do see him when he comes to town every few years.
Will the tapes with Mitch Harris ever be released?
That is a myth. There are no tapes with Mitch. I think Joe inadvertently started that roomer because no one asked us these
questions until years after the band broke up. I don’t ever remember Mitch laying down full track on Reflections. We have the Master
reels and they are being evaluated by an outside source to let us know for sure but trust me they don’t exist.
What lies in the future for the band?
Well Goatlord has been broke up since I think 1993. The band seems to grow in the underground every year. Every now and then
someone contacts us about re-releasing something the band did, which is very cool. As far as the band itself it will never reform. I am
the only one doing anything musically right now. I formed a new band in 2005 called Spun In Darkness. Please check us out www.
spunindarkness.com.
WEB: www.myspace.com/goatlordusa
Interview by: John Wisniewski
