04.10.24, TV Eye, Queens, NY
What an amazing show, so much so I was talking about it days later covering a fest. It was a simple one on a Wednesday night at TV Eye in Ridgewood Queens, with only two bands but Zombi played for a solid chunk of time that still left me wanting more. Continue reading
Lustmord is the pseudonym of Brian Williams, now more than four decades into his music career and with myriad releases under his belt, including many soundtracks and collaborations, as well as a plethora of “ordinary” albums.Continue reading
It’s easy to get lost in the minutiae of music genres and what defines a band; what they can and can’t be, are and are not, and what makes them “good”.
Strangely, subjectivity has taken a backseat to this artform. If it’s not pristine, perfect, polished, and full of impressive instrumental or vocal acrobatics, it’s boring. Worse, it’s bad. Continue reading
Polyphia, Polyphia, Polyphia. What can you really say that hasn’t already been said? Well, if the show that they had at The Paradise is any indication… you can say a whole hell of a lot more! Because let me tell you something, I have never in my life seen a line that wrapped around the building twice to try to get into see a show at The Paradise when it was already sold out before the line started. Polyphia is a band that has been doing more for guitar driven instrumental music in the current day and age of rock, than I think anyone is even close to admitting to. Every tour they go on, be it here in states or in other countries, sell out almost instantly. They have some of the most innovative records to date that are much more than meet the eye while Tim Henson and Scott LePage may actually be the reincarnations Steve Vai and Joe Satriani with the mind of a wacked out Hip-Hop producer for a millennial ear. They sold out the club and there were people begging for tickets outside the whole night, let’s dive into this night shall we?
My Sleeping Karma proffers a heady instrumental in Atma (Napalm Records). The six tracks on Atma are ripe for playing over and over and over again and, at times, are mesmerizing to the point of feeling insensate. As this is a fully instrumental album, it’s up to the listener to provide sense and meaning to the aural sensations. Continue reading
To celebrate Independence Day today, Dream Theater keyboardist and progressive music genius Jordan Rudess has shared an instrumental cover of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” The United States National Anthem. Rudess recently launched a Patreon you can follow here.Continue reading
CB3 (aka Charlottas Burning Trio), and expansive space-rock outfit hailing from Sweden’s Malmo, recently released their new album, Aeons and delivered another healthy dose of accessible hazy instrumental jams. This, their fourth album, which was partially funded through Kickstarter, is the band’s first with The Sign Records. It sees them continue their eclectic mix of spacy psychedelic rock sprinkled with moments of jazz and occasional stoner riffs. Continue reading
Instrumental music is an incredibly niche market, to say the least. For the vast majority of the music-listening population, instrumental music sounds incomplete and lacking that human touch in a way that only the human voice can provide. In the Metal genre in particular, guitar-led instrumental music can often come across as showing off how virtuosic the guitarist is without any care given to musical creation and taste in general. There are a few exceptions to this rule with Steve Vai’s Sex and Religion (Relativity) and Buckethead’s Electric Tears (Metastation) coming to mind.Continue reading
Reunited Dutch instrumental mathcore forbearers Gore will release their comeback album Revanche from the Exile on Mainstream label tomorrow, the 22nd of March, 2019. The band has reimagined and recreated its 1992 album Lifelong Deadline into Revanche and has reanimated back to life to teach everyone a harsh lesson in heavy, avant-garde, and progressive music. Live dates can be found below and stay tuned for a documentary miniseries as well. Stream all of Revanche here at Ghost Cult now!Continue reading
UK-based progressive post-Rock band Cracked Machine are releasing their brand new opus The Call of the Void via PsyKa Records on 12th April 2019. The prolific band just released their debut last spring, I, Cosmonaut, and are back for another round of beautifully composed, emotionally resonant, psychedelic-tinged prog. Ghost Cult brings you the stream of their new single, ‘Azi Dahakar’ right now! Continue reading