Photo credit: Valerii Konchin
Vancouver metallers, Thirteen Goats, have shared their new single, “Animal Kingdom,” along with a music video, featuring guest vocals from Carly Ellen Jones. This is the closing track from their 2024 album, Capricorn Rising (Exitus Stratagem Records). Watch it below and find out more.
Buy Capricorn Rising here: https://www.exsrmusic.com/store/p/pre-sale-thirteen-goats-capricorn-rising
The music video shows the band members performing a summoning ritual that ends with them falling under the spell of the demon they conjured (played by Jones). “It’s classic be-careful-what-you-wish-for stuff,” says lead singer Graham K. Miles. “In that sense, it’s thematically true to the subject matter of the song, which is a warning about the seductive appeal of extremist movements and the consequences of becoming radicalized.”
Miles, who also directed the video, said he was heavily inspired by the works of filmmaker David Lynch, who passed away in early 2025. “His art was fantastical and surreal,” Miles says, “but it was always about real and contemporary issues under the surface. We’re aiming in the same direction with this video and this record.”
“Animal Kingdom” is the biggest musical risk that the band has taken yet. It starts out with an unsettling pattern of clean, arpeggiated chords, before a wall of cascading guitar melodies and haunting clean vocals crash in for the verses. From there, ominous grooves and wailing leads build up to a cathartic duet between Jones and Miles, which shifts into a ferociously heavy climax and an angular final riff that terminates in a single bass note reminiscent of an atomic bomb going off. Not only is it a fitting conclusion to the record, but it’s a sign of how the band’s sound will likely continue to evolve on future releases.
Thirteen Goats are set to kick off their festival blitz with their first performance on August 3rd at Loud As Hell Open Air in Drumheller, AB alongside Revocation, Insurrection, Gorepig, Cyborg Octopus, Squidhammer, Beguiler, and lots more. In addition, they will also be in Sooke, BC on August 10th at Mosh The Rock and Fort McMurray, AB on Sept 13th for the 3rd edition of Party in the Park.
Show Dates:
Aug 3 – Loud As Hell Open Air – Drumheller, AB – https://loudashell.ca
Aug 10 – Mosh The Rock – Sooke, BC – https://www.facebook.com/events/1932051257598357
Sept 13 – Party in the Park 3 – Fort McMurray, AB – https://lnk.bio/partyintheparkfestYMM
In additional news, Thirteen Goats have also been nominated by the Western Canadian Music Awards (https://breakoutwest.ca/awards) for Metal & Hard Music Artist of the Year alongside Anciients, Torrefy, Art of Attrition, and Holy Void.
Known for their punishing live shows, razor-sharp riffs, and tongue-in-cheek lyrical savagery, Thirteen Goats have carved out a unique niche by fusing numerous metal subgenres and delivering the results with a theatrical twist. The quartet unleashed their sophomore LP Capricorn Rising in July 2024 via Exitus Stratagem Records. The concept album tells the story of their mascot, Shepherd: a goat-skull-wearing Antichrist who raises an army of animals to liberate the earth from humanity’s constant wars and greed.
Each song on the record is part of a broader narrative that explores themes of disillusionment, radicalization, and rebellion as Shepherd and his 12 demon goats wage their crusade. This storytelling approach takes listeners on a journey through the darkest aspects of both human and animal nature across nine tracks that combine elements of death metal, thrash, and groove.
Listeners should expect furious riffage, ambitious song structures, and even occasional female guest vocals (courtesy of guest artist Carly Ellen Jones). What they shouldn’t expect is a record that plays it safe or falls neatly into one specific subgenre. Thirteen Goats is recommended for fans of Lamb of God, Carcass, and Mastodon.
Follow Thirteen Goats:
https://thirteengoats.com/
https://open.spotify.com/album/1CtYBA9YJZoykWkMwdP1wO