Goatpenis - Flesh Consumed in the Battlefield (2014)

   It was mentioned before that Goatpenis might have the most diverse discography if it's about war metal bands. And "Flesh Consumed in the Battlefield" was probably something that most didn't see coming, cause it was like a complete style switch compared to the previous tendency of the band.
   If their intention was to keep balancing between the extreme metal styles like how old school South American bands did, switching to crossover thrash/death might seem as a reasonable decision. But from the perspective of a black/death or war metal band it's difficult to see why was it an advantageous decision. If they wanted to extend their audience by making an album compatible with hardcore fan audiences, the switch might have been successful, but the same time their music not only got simplified but dummified as well. If this album came out a decade earlier, when hardcore/metalcore was on the rise, it could have become the most brutal record that hardcore/crossover thrash audiences could have got, and it definitely could have became an influential album. But the timing and the band's past making this step questionable. It sounds more like a what if... like experiment, that includes all styles the could have influenced the band members (even black metal is there, but only for the final song), but this time their lesser known influences are mainly represented. It's like a reverse Goatpenis album (could be Goatvagina then?), that doesn't lack catchy themes, has better sound quality and production than usual, but the same time it's far different than what should be expected from the band.