Review Summary: Driving melodic riffs? Metal tone and precision? Fresh, Brutal Breakdowns? Hardcore Attitude and Integrity? All in one tight package? Well here it is!
The Ghost Inside's New Album,
Fury and the Fallen Ones Is definitely one of the best cds from a "new" band that I have bought in a long time. The Disc Punches you in the face right from song one, and continues to impress throughout, with very few lapses in-between. This Review is written by a hardcore/metal Fan who also plays in a band and
is bombarded with "check this band out" several times a week. With that said, to people who are not terribly involved in the scene, this disc might get unfairly labeled as generic, or standard metalcore, but, for those of us who listen to hardcore, metal everyday, The differences between this cd and 90% of the other stuff will be pleasantly obvious, and in my opinion, you don’t have to re-invent the wheel to have your own style.
The band successfully takes different styles of metal, and hardcore and blends them together to raise the bar for the throngs of other bands that are trying to compete for space in the (almost) too crowded genre. This bands sound takes melodic hardcore elements, (Comeback Kid, Shai Hulud) blends them with metal precision, and driving, yet not so predictable, riffs (Bury your Dead, The Agony Scene) and manages to keep a very tough hardcore integrity with vocals that are in your face from start to finish (Terror, Hatebreed)
The musicianship on the record is very good. Nothing on here is super technical in terms of odd time signatures, etc... but everything is "diamonds packed into coal" tight, and the riffs are well written and by no means simple. For the most part, nothing is overly predictable, with some parts and transitions taking you completely by surprise (which i might add, is becoming pleasant rarity for me these days). Soyer, Aaron, and Tyler have done a great job developing their own guitar/bass sound with the riffs and tone on this album. They've managed to pull off melodic, and driving, and heavy, which in my experience a lot of bands can do 2 out of those 3 things but rarely all 3. The guitar players play alot of melodic lines that work with the foundation riff to achieve a much more interesting sound similar to what bands like Comeback Kid and With Honor utilize.
Fury and the Fallen Ones also delivers the Breakdowns that will tear the roof off any venue, and they also aren't afraid to toss in some tasty pinch harmonics.
KC's drumming compliments, and backs up the Guitars and Bass very well. He plays perfectly for the parts, and is just flashy enough in the right spots to make him very fun to listen to, but not so flashy that the song loses its punishing stride. Did I mention rhythm section machine tight? These drum parts have the hardcore tempos you'd expect but are more custom tailered so that the drum hits hug the guitar riffs on all the parts and not just breakdowns.
The Vocalist Vigil has the ideal sound for a hardcore vocalist. He has the very mid range, even toned, intense, Jamey Jasta, (Hatebreed) or Scott Vogel (Terror) style vocals. I found the lyrics to be very tough and real throughout, which makes him more credible than other bands that want to be so tough that their lyrics are just over the top, or cheesy, or downright BS Vigils themes lean more to the positive side, with songs about overcoming personal demons, and self improvement, which is a lot more palatable than the recycled "nobody is tougher than us" jargon thats cluttering alot of hardcore cds. The vocal sound could have been varied a little to help keep parts a little fresher, and less monotone, but it is still effective none the less.
This album is absolutely worth the ten bucks paid, and proves you can be outside the box, catchy, and STILL make a listener want to windmill kick somebody. Is the album perfect? No, especially if its rated with metal bands, but, to me this is a hardcore band with some elements of metal in it. So as a hardcore effort, the cd has its own style, is very well executed, and will be well recieved by most corners of the genres fan base. This is undoubtedly a cd that will apeal to some metal heads as well. The next effort from
The Ghost Inside will be something to look foward to.
