Goddess – Ritual Of The Cloven Hoof

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · June 15, 2026

Goddess is a four-piece stoner/ doom metal quartet from Stockholm, Sweden. Formed out of the ashes of Goatess, Goddess blend elements of stoner rock, heavy metal, doom, and heavy psych. The lineup consists of Karl-Martin Buhre on vocals and guitar, Kenta Karlbom on drums, John Jansson on bass, and Anders Martinsgård on guitar. They just released their debut full length album entitled Ritual Of The Cloven Hoof on May 22nd 2026 on Majestic Mountain Records. It contains six tracks at thirty seven minutes long.

After the spoken intro “God is dead”, Goddess embark on a heavy doom metal ensemble called “Godless”, to begin this massive record. The song has a sonic enhancement of stoner doom marked with excellent guitar melodies. The vocals sound really good, expressive and powerful but not overtaken. The music remains unhurried throughout, expressing crushing riffs, potent harmonies, and a magnificent flow of stoner/ doom. The “Inquisition” carries on with the dense rhythms, mixing in the dynamics of fuzz and melody while retaining their strong vocal pursuits. Goddess champions a psychedelic experience midway through the song as the music transcends into a progressive relay of mind expanding tones and hypnotic rhythms.

“To Be King” has an epic buildup of clean guitars and pounding percussion. The airy tones and cosmic flow of this song is fantastic. The gruffness of the vocals adds a charm to this music that funnels different musical elements into the mix. The classic heavy metal and traditional doom stance that the band performs is spellbinding on this track. Bluesy and harmonic leads jive nicely with the double kick drum foray of death and black metal anguish. Buhre’s vocals sound pretty nasty and diabolical on that segment too. “Blood Fever” begins with the guitar as it strikes into a heavy doom riff. Goddess performs Sabbath inspired riffs that express melody and harmony in their music. This is the style of doom metal that I prefer. The long, slow, heavy and snail riffs are not exactly my thing. I tend to gravitate towards heavy and groove-laden tones that bring in all sorts of musical styles and differences.

“Born Again Heathen” is such an enchanting and beautiful song that flows along with equal parts heavy and melodic. The longest song on Ritual Of The Cloven Hoof, is a head trip at eight and a half minutes long. It is the perfect segway into the closer, “Devil’s Reef”. The final song is a riff centric rocker! The more mid paced and uptempo banger showcases an array of amazing styles including straight up stoner rock with versatile heavy metal melodies. The catchy chorus and gruff execution is the cherry on top of this stoner doom sundae. Goddess fabricates excellent sonically pleasing songs which rise to the top with this terrific debut album.