Hailing from Wales, UK. The land of song. Known for its rugged coast line, mountainous natural beauty and Celtic traditions. Ancient castles, churches and monuments. Goat Major are influenced by their history, ancestry and surroundings as much as the heavy metal gods they grew up idolising.
The members were teenagers in the early 2000’s when the seeds of Goat Major were sown. Tom Shortt (Vocals, Bass), Jammie Arnold (Guitar) and Simon Bonwick (Drums) grew up within half a mile of each other in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, in the shadow of the town’s medieval castle.
After years of separate bands, artistic endeavours, careers and life commitments the trio united during the Covid lockdown of 2020. Illegal meetings and clandestine rehearsals paved the way for their sinister new material. Arnold’s crushingly direct super-fuzzed riffage, complimented by Shortt’s creepily catchy melodies, underpinned and driven on by Bonwick’s tastefully aggressive grooves and cultured fills. The chemistry was beyond doubt and the trio’s darkly mystic potential became swiftly apparent. Soon the band began to cut their live teeth in the underground party scene in rural Wales. Goat Major was born.
The band continued to ply their evil trade with shows up and down the UK. With their thunderous and atmospheric live performances Goat Major quickly established themselves as one of the most exciting new bands emerging from the UK stoner/doom metal scene. Sharing the stage with the likes of Thunder Horse, Wytch Hazel, Sigiriya, Parish, OHHMS, Made Of Teeth and Inhuman Nature.
Goat Major entered the studio with engineer Tom Challoner in late 2022 to record their full length debut LP. Produced, mixed and mastered by Joe Harvatt.
Summer 2023 would see Goat Major sign with one of the world’s leading record labels for heavy psych, stoner, doom, and heavy rock, the California based Ripple Music.
The debut EP ‘Evil Eye’ dropped in November 2023, a “rip-roaring romp through a Gothic graveyard full of occult secrets, in the vein of Black Sabbath and Early Man.”
The highly anticipated debut LP “Ritual” is set for release March 8th 2024.
The Ritual has begun….
