Review Summary: These first time listeners are wholly unaware of what this release *could* have been - a monumental achievement that spans several genres and immmediately attain 'cult-hit' status.
Before I get into the reminiscent commentary on how much I love(d?) these guys, I'm going to give a blanket justification for this rating immediately. Many of the people who will be listening to this album (especially in the first few days after its release) will have been long time fans, as despite moderate recent success, The Fall of Troy is still relatively underground in terms of popularity. These people will likely agree with me. First time FoT listeners may perhaps consider this a 4/5 album, as it's still considerably good. These first time listeners are wholly unaware of what this release *could* have been - a monumental achievement that spans several genres and immmediately attain 'cult-hit' status.
The album opens up with ... Well, chapter 1. A good place to start, usually. 1. The band has airily titled the chapter "Introverting Dimensions". This is 2008's remodeling of the original "Ghostship Part I", which in itself was a near perfect theme with which to open the Ghostship EP. The remodeled version falls short in the first 6 seconds, where flange effects distort an introduction to the point where the otherworldly air produced in Ghostship I is nearly lost altogether. This last paragraph is capable of summarizing the entire album. That said, I would rather the internet not consider me lazy, so I'll give you a bit more clarity. Like in the opening, there are quite a few small touchy changes that come off as having been added in over the last four years just for the sake of differentiating this release from the original Ghostship EP. This is what happens when you sit on a release for a year shy of eternity - It becomes tangled up in itself. You overthink things. You lacquer it to the point that the uniqueness is lost and it becomes difficult to follow the grains. This is exactly what happened here in all the previously released material.
Along with the mistakes in the reworks, the album is lacking in continuity. Having listened to the Fall of Troy from their self titled release and onwards, you can hear a distinct evolution (for better or for worse depending on opinion) in their sound. Especially if you stack their s/t alongside Manipulator. On a timeline, Ghostship sounds like it should sit somewhere between self titled and Doppleganger, which incidentally, is exactly where it was 'released'. The two previously unreleased tracks sound alot like Manipulator tracks, whereas the previously recorded tracks (chapters I, IV, and V) sound more like a Doppleganger/FoT cross. Chapter III sounds completely out of place, and that's a painful seven minutes-fifty seconds of out of place material. Chapter II grows on me after each listen.
And lastly (for effect), and furthest from least, I come to the most brutally disappointing note on the album: the lack of tenseness. The lack of ... uh... inTENSity. The distinct lack of dark, foggy atmosphere that forcefully draped itself over the original EP. Crisper, more modernized production, the addition of about 4000 too many pedal-effects on guitar, and cutting out screamed vocals left and right. I am rarely one to cry overproduction, but it's immensely clear that this album has been waxed over. Regarding the screaming, Erak was quoted in an interview with ultimateguitar.com as saying "We’re getting older. I think we’re kind of getting over screaming a little bit. I know I’ve become a lot more confident of a singer in the last year of my life." That's a problem for me. Especially in a release that is supposed to contain the shrill, rigid sense of urgency that Tim Ward's scream epitomized. (addendum: Frank Black just doesn't cut it.) During Chapter IV, I actually skipped ahead two tracks on my iPod to a Feist album and listened to that for a while before cutting back and forcing myself to complete Horizon.
Phantom on the Horizon was a tremendous letdown. Using the typical "growing as a band" excuse, the Fall of Troy have abandoned much of what made them great five or six years ago for a newer, more polished feel. I loved Manipulator for what it was, almost as much as I loved S/T, but the mixing together of the two different sides of Fall of Troy will not function. It especially will not function in a concept album. I have already created a new playlist in iTunes mixing the old Ghostship demos in with the 2 new tracks, and I can see myself skipping Chapter III. Alot. Despite the negativity, this is still a decent album, and as a fan, it was worth the $15 to own it. It was just massively disappointing.
3 sandwiches out of 5 sandwiches. Satisfied, but not full. I'm apparently a fat guy.
