ALBUM REVIEW: In The Dawn Of November – Goya
Doom trio GOYA seemingly disappeared in 2017, following the release of their third album Harvester Of Bongloads, a record which saw the Phoenix, Arizona band at the height of their psychedelically heavy powers. After everything had fallen quiet for a while, though, the Summer of 2024 saw the band return to the live circuit in the US and in the autumn they entered the studio with legendary producer Jack Endino (HIGH ON FIRE, SOUNDGARDEN,) finally ready to record their fourth album In The Dawn Of November.
This near-eight-year hiatus has done nothing to dull the band’s edge, however, In fact, it seems to have completely re-energised them. They’ve gathered everything that was so impressive about their first three albums and have honed it all into a collection of six songs that take the band to a whole new level. This is evident within the first minute of the title track which opens proceedings. Kicking off with a classic, crawling doom drum and bass groove, the song soon explodes into a dark, wah pedal-fuelled anthem. Doom isn’t really a genre known for producing tunes you instantly feel the urge to sing along with, but this is absolutely the exception to that rule. Singer and guitarist Jeffrey Owens’ powerfully emotional vocal delivery and the use of judiciously layered vocal harmonies instantly make this one stand out, while the rhythm section of Marcus Bryant on drums and CJ Sholtis on bass keep things razor sharp in the background.
Second track Cemetery Blues picks the pace up slightly, coming on like early ELECTRIC WIZARD if they’d had MONSTER MAGNET’s Dave Wyndorf on vocals. There’s a bluesy swagger to this one, showing that GOYA know their SABBATH well but also aren’t just going to rip them off and, as if to prove this, the song takes on a more psychedelic rock bent as it launches into another impressive lead solo from Owens. Depressive Episode is faster again, adding a sludgier, proto-metal NWOBHM vibe that would no doubt make Matt Pike’s ears prick up, the guitars and bass so downtuned they can only be described as “bowel-troubling”. Unsurprisingly, the lyrics are pretty bleak on this one, as is the case across much of the album, but you sense there is still a nod and a wink behind them (“so far gone I don’t wanna write this song”).
The songwriting really is masterful across the entirety of In The Dawn Of November. The longer, doomier epics really do take you on a cosmic journey and the shorter, punchier tracks will have you banging your head and bellowing out the strangely catchy choruses, but at no point as a listener do you feel lost, bored or like anything is missing, both musically and sonically. Endino’s production work really helps with this too; the album feels live and organic but the mix is never messy or imbalanced. This is probably best highlighted in the contrast between the bouncy, desert-rock-meets-sludge anthem to fury Sick Of Your Shit and the song that follows it, the twelve minute monster that is I Wanna Be Dead. The former will have you jumping around your living room, while the latter – with its knowing rain-and-tolling-church-bell opening – will absolutely pin you to the floor with its crushing weight. Despite this contrast, though, there is such consistency in the feel and the groove of each song here that nothing feels in any way out of place.
It’s hard to come up with enough superlatives to describe this album. It’s bleak and crushing but has real soul and, as odd as it sounds, warmth. It’s dark and heavy but at the same time will have you grooving around your speakers. It’s mournful but will still have you grinning from ear to ear. Thank the Gods of metal that GOYA didn’t call it a day back in 2017 because they’ve just released one of the albums of 2025.
Rating: 9/10
In The Dawn Of November is set for release June 13th via Blues Funeral Recordings.
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