A Very Old Ghost Behind the Farm – Canes Gothi !

A Very Old Ghost Behind the Farm is a Franco-Canadien atmospheric doom, stoner, crust and sludge project, formed in 2009. A Very Old Ghost Behind the Farm is based on a visceral desire to break down barriers between doom, sludge, blackened metal, stoner and crust.

Twelve years have passed since the quartet‘s previous album, La Came Crude (2014). Their latest release titled, Canes Gothi ! delivers 42 minutes of crushing, Black Sabbath, Acid Bath, Candlemass, Eyehategod-inspired music across seven dense and brooding tracks. Band’s line – up, responsible for the creation of their first full-length in twelve years, is comprised of; Lundi Galilao (vocals & drums), Gloria Tetanos (guitar and vocals), Victor Bestiole (bass & vocals) and Matagrabe (guitar). Most notably, the band utilizes the rare arrangement of having their drummer, Lundi Galilao, act as the primary lead vocalist, a point we will return to later in this evaluation.

Meanwhile, the conceptual world of A Very Old Ghost Behind the Farm relies heavily on themes of isolation, historical persecution and other occult themes. In other words; the music on Canes Gothi ! ‘…aims to translate the suffering, curses, and marginalized existence of the Cagots (a severely persecuted minority group in Western Europe) into a heavy, monolithic sonic landscape’. Thus, the band clearly draws inspiration from the tragic and obscure history of the Cagots of the Pyrenees, a cursed and persecuted people for a millennium.

The riffs are heavy, sludgy and relentless, offering an immersive horror/doom atmosphere. Bass-lines are punishing and acting as the rhythmic and atmospheric backbone, while the drums are plodding, heavy and anchoring. Ultimately, the most piercing, raw, agonizing, haunting and spectral vocals in recent memory.

There’re a couple of standout tracks/album highlights in my opinion, namely; the blistering, heavy and intense album opner, “Vicious Seeds”, an absolute monolith that sets the tone for the entire record. The overall atmosphere of the song is heavy, downtuned and suffocating, as the track utilizes agonizingly slow, rhythmic doom tempos coupled with raw, gravelly sludge vocal deliveries. Another standout song is “A Sack Full of Bones” (listen to the song below), mainly due to its perfect blend of heavy and doom-laden instrumentation with dark folk-horror storytelling.

Behind the haunting, melancholic and vintage black-and-white photograph of a man dressed in a formal suit, lies an extremely interesting album capable of captivating a wide audience loyal to robust, raw and dark metal.

Canes Gothi ! is a triumphant and dark return that balances raucous sludge with deep, compelling historical and musical lore. Since the pacing of the album ranges from crawling doom-crawl to aggressive, frantic outbursts, I would say that that Canes Gothi ! is highly rewarding and recommended spin for fans of slow, monolistic and sludgy doom, but also for those into crust, punk and atmospheric stoner metal.

For further information on third full-length from A Very Old Ghost Behind the Farm visit label’s or the quartet’s bandcamp, where you can purchase the album on vinyl or digital formats.