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The Unspeakable is the second full-length album from enigmatic Swedish band Year of the Goat and it continues in the vein of trippy, psychedelic Hard Rock/Heavy Metal the band has traded in thus far in their career. The Unspeakable leans more toward the Hard Rock side of the aisle so if the last album wasn't heavy enough for you this will be one to skip. If you're still on board you'll find creepy, rambling Doom-influenced tracks like "All He Has Read" and "Riders of Vultures" ready to bring you back to the late 60s/early 70s when the underground was full of obscure bands playing unorthodox music. There's plenty of haunting melodies perpetrated by the guitars and Hammond organ underscoring the emotive vocals. Shorter tracks like "Vermin" and "Black Sunlight" show off some tight songwriting and if The Unspeakable was full of more of the same I'd be all in but then Year of the Goat gives us songs like "The Emma" and "The Sermon" which are either too Hard Rock or too unfocused to hold my attention. When the album veered into this territory I felt like I was listening to Their Satanic Majesty's Request by The Rolling Stones. It has its moments but it is mostly just weird.

Basically, The Unspeakable is not nearly as "occult" or heavy as I was hoping it would be. There's too much straightforward rock and roll masquerading as Black Sabbath or Pentagram music when it is more like King Crimson or The Kinks. Personally, I don't mind the album but Year of the Goat seem to be moving further away from Metal with every release so I have a hard time recommending The Unspeakable.