While other hardcore acts are content to smash out albums with minute long tracks full of caveman riffs and mosh calls, Fucked Up have always taken a unique path, becoming known for their concept albums mixing thunderous hardcore punk spirit with rock-opera style storytelling. Starting way back in 2006 with Year Of The Dog and continuing alongside their better known work, Fucked Up’s Zodiac series represents the band at their most creative, taking the listener on an odyssey inspired by Rush, Poison Idea and the Chinese novel Journey To The West, the first album of the year-long, ten act finale of the saga, Year Of The Goat continues the band’s thirst for wild experimentation.
Although the thought of a two-track, hour long post-hardcore album may be off putting to listeners used to the genre’s rapid pace and relentless ferocity, Year Of The Goat provides an immersive experience designed to draw the listener in rather than pommel them over the head. Rather than taking on his usual frontman role, Damien Abraham voices the story’s protagonist Monkey using his trademark coarse screams with frequent collaborator Tuka Mohammed sharing centre stage as Good Goat with a confident yet tender performance which provides a refreshing contrast to Abraham’s abrasive style. While structurally having more in common with Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars than anything by Minor Threat, fans of Fucked Up’s more straightforward hardcore works will still find plenty to love among the lore and atmosphere.
“While structurally having more in common with Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars than anything by Minor Threat, fans of Fucked Up’s more straightforward hardcore works will still find plenty to love among the lore and atmosphere.”
Photo Credit: Lindsay Duncan
Year Of The Goat’s extended runtime gives Fucked Up license to experiment with genres such as prog, post-rock and folk alongside their usual hardcore punk style as well as the opportunity to bring in some guest vocalists to keep things fresh. On top of Abraham and Mohammed’s starring roles the cast is rounded out by guest appearances from Toronto based singer-songwriter Jennifer Castle, The Weather Station’s Tamara Linderman and Dwid Hellion, frontman of metalcore pioneers Integrity providing their own unique vocal styles to the ever-shifting soundscape. While an hour of classic Fucked Up tracks like ‘Police’ or ‘Dance Of Death’ may be too much for even the most seasoned hardcore veteran, Year Of The Goat manages to fold tinges of their harsher work into a constantly evolving sonic tapestry.
While technically two tracks, ‘Long Ago Gardens’ and ‘Rivers And Lakes’, Year Of The Goat really presents itself as the first two parts of the final act of the Zodiac series, titled Grass Can Move Stones, which does make both listening and judging the album in isolation a difficult task. Like joining an epic series of fantasy novels midway through, Year Of The Goat’s plot seems impenetrable to an outsider, left with the daunting task of deciphering two decades of niche post-hardcore, battling through one of the densest works of experimental music to arise from Canada’s underground. It’s impressive how little Fucked Up care for tourists to their world, pouring their full creative force into the swirling cacophony of Year Of The Goat, however, this confidence in their craft does leave a huge hurdle for late arrivals to surpass.
Despite being almost impervious to newcomers, Year Of The Goat provides some of the most inventive work of Fucked Up’s long and eclectic career. Sprinkling the hardcore attitude they’ve become known for into a dense soundscape of drone, folk and prog, Fucked Up create an immersive vehicle for their riveting storytelling.