I really wonder who actually used to worship GOATLORD’s material back when the band was still around (in the late 80s, early 90s), because all the old school people that I offered the possibility of reviewing this DoCD were either making fun of the band, considered them total crap or never cared at all! Personally I don’t really understand the cult status (?) of GOATLORD either and the fact that I can’t even recall a single song off their one and only full length album "Reflections Of The Solstice" (which came out on the infamous Turbo Records label in 1991) also doesn’t necessarily speak for their qualities (?). But Roman of Holland’s underground cult label From Beyond Records obviously views things differently as he took the risk to release two of GOATLORD’s official demos and a 2 track promo tape onto a double CD / 3 LP (!!) set! Liner notes were written be NUNSLAUGHTER’s Don Of The Dead and the artwork was supplied by no one else than Chris Moyen. All those elements combined are obviously reason enough to at least check out what GOATLORD were really all about musically, before they did the album (with NAPALM DEATH / RIGHTEOUS PIGS’ Mitch Harris on vocals). And you know what? Their 1988 demo "Sodomize The Goat", which is featured on disc one, really has its moments! The twelve tracks, which come up with an impressive, total playing time of 69:40 minutes, are probably the best tunes the band ever wrote. Not all of them, but a few selected ones are fine examples of raw, uncompromising Doom / Death with a killer vocal performance courtesy of Ace Stills. This guy delivered a similar sinister feeling as like-minded underground frontmen such as Mike Smith (SATHANAS / ACHERON), Don Of The Dead (NUNSLAUGHTER) and the likes. He actually must have been the most important member of the band as the quality of the material stands and falls with his performance. Unfortunately he left the band in 1991 to form DOOM SNAKE CULT (another highly underrated act by the way) and GOATLORD never managed to reach this level again. Disc number two (which features "Demo ’87" and the aformentioned 1991 promo tape) is pure crap though and could be the reason why so many people considered GOATLORD as a superfluous bunch of talentless blokes, so I won’t get into it more detailed here. Besides the cool cover art and already mentioned liner notes, "Distorted Birth: The Demos" features all the lyrics, as well as the band’s hilarious old demo covers… So, now it’s up to you to decide whether this is another must have item for your collection or not. Contact: www.displeasedrecords.com/frombeyond.