Heavy Metal does not have a reputation as being a very upbeat style of music. Oh sure, the music is fast, energetic, and fun, but the lyrics tend to be obsessed with death, pain, and the negative side of life. Phoenix, AZ's Goya make music that swells and soars with energy, and then layer over it lyrics that make you crave an antidepressant. I love the dichotomy here, but I understand that anyone who focuses on the lyrics will be a little disturbed.

In The Dawn of November, the band's fourth album and first in 8 years, contains some great riffage and thunderous rhythms, but the lyrical themes cover depression, dying, hatred, and necrophilia, although that last one is pretty clearly a joke.

Consider the twelve minute centerpiece of this album, which is called I Wanna Be Dead. And that pretty much sums up the lyrical content. Jeffrey Owens plays some blistering guitar around his lyrics, and drummer Marcus Bryant and bassist CJ Sholtis make a deep driving rhythm that thunders the song along. But, at its heart, Owens is singing about suicidal ideation. I hope he is getting some help for this.

But the point is, either that sort of thing appeals to you or you will dislike this band.

There are six total songs here. The title track kicks off the record with some truly massive riffs, the bass fuzzed out to hell and the guitar a blur. Owens sings "Existence is pain / I don’t care what they say / I've laid awake too long / To carry on / Please let me go". No one else can sing about depression in such a fun way.

They follow this up with a fun little tune about necrophilia, Cemetery Blues. The lyrics are not explicit and this is really a love song, just the object of his attention is deceased. But the tone is light, playful. It kind of says something when the song about necrophilia is one of the lyrically lighter tunes on the record.

Depressive Episode is a short, fast metal song. It tears by with fuzzy distorted guitar and the bass warbling like it's about to go off the rails at any minute. However, if you listen to the lyrics is about climate change induced depression. Huh. The next tune is another short one. Sick of Your Shit is just Owens spewing hatred at someone. I get the feeling, after a few listens, that something specific spurred this tune, and that person knows what they did.

I Wanna Be Dead takes almost twelve and a half minutes, but despite the lyrical content I never get bored with it. The music is so good. And then Goya wrap up the record with Comes with the Fall, a short instrumental that sort of meanders to the end of the record.

I really enjoy the album. I like that Goya's music is so vibrant, alive, and powerful, while the lyrics are so dark. I enjoy the dichotomy at play.

Your mileage may vary, of course.