The most interesting bands are not the ones that come out of the box ready made to ingest. The best shift like a sea at storm, creating and destroying, adding and taking back what it wants. Downfall of Gaia too has continued to adapt and improve, pushing themselves and everything else outward with every release. After a few years absence, the band has returned again with their new album, once again aiming high as they can. Continue reading
It is coming to the end of another year, a time with some celebration you may have heard of on the horizon and, more importantly, for end of year lists, where mostly sane people agonise and debate about ranking excellent things they enjoyed in an arbitrary list format which simultaneously means nothing and everything at the same time. It also means that albums released between now and the start of January will normally get overlooked; which, in the case of Great Falls and A Sense Of Rest (Corpse Flower Records), is a criminal injustice.Continue reading
We’ve followed the career of Ohio rockers Static Tension closely, and have always come away impressed. Heavy and modern, the band brings their influences (Soundgarden, Black Sabbath, AIC, Mastodon) together and creates something timeless. Their full-length debut, Ashes To Animation, is releasing next month, Check out their new song ‘Blank Silhouette’, only at Ghost Cult!Continue reading
Instrumental Rock, as a branch of post-Metal, can be such a tricky genre to pull off well. Many times it is about a balance that bands can miss. Too often bands miss that poignancy and enchanting quality that such material often needs and instead prove mechanical and disengaging in nature. Over three prior albums, Floridian act Set And Setting have showcased both a technical prowess in their sound and that difficult ingredient, heart, whilst continuously adapting their sound; a case which is proven once again on their latest effort, Tabula Rasa (Pelagic).Continue reading
Majestic progressive cult metallers Ulver has booked their first ever show in the USA for next spring. They will make their live debut in the US at Irving Plaza on March 21, 2019, in New York City. Tickets go on sale Friday (10/5) at 10 AM Eastern with an Invisible Oranges presale starting Thursday (10/4) at 10 AM Eastern. More dates seem likely since it’s expensive to travel to the US for an exclusive show. The band is still supporting 2017s widely acclaimed album The Assassination of Julus Ceaser (House Of Mythology). They also released a surprise EP and headlined Roadburn Festival 2017. Ghost Cult has long been Ulver champions through their many eras: kvlt black metal, blackened death metal, progressive rock, post-punk, post-rock, and more. We can’t wait to see what the future holds with new music in 2019. Continue reading
Veteran progressive death metal band Stormcast is releasing their new album, The Ghost Eater this fall and has shared the lyric video for their crushing debut single ‘Resonance’! Check it out here at Ghost Cult below! Continue reading
It has been a decade now since I first saw A Forest Of Stars at their debut gig in Leeds, and they’ve always occupied a special place for me in music since then. They mash-up progressive Black Metal with a folky presence and wrap it up within a steampunk inspired Victorian based package. What results from this can sometimes be a little hit and miss, but generally contains many objects of wonder. Grave Mounds and Grave Mistakes, marks their third full length released on Prophecy Productions.Continue reading
For those in the know, Baton Rouge’s Thou are a special act. Truly an underground cult, Thou have captured hearts with their intense and emotive brand of sludgy post-metal that isn’t afraid to usher in new dynamics, forms or influence throughout. After pivotal highs of Heathen (Gilead Media) and collaborative efforts with The Body, it would be several years before they emerged again as a recording band, only to offer an unprecedented four new releases this year. First of all were three EP releases that represented a different thread to their sound, leading to the full-length effort Magus (Sacred Bones), an album which could well be their pinnacle.Continue reading
For many metal fans, metal is the form of music that speaks to them the most during dark times; music that isn’t afraid of the subject of low points, crippling mental health or exploring unyielding sorrow, and thus is often that supporting and helping crutch we often hold on to for dear life. It is in this school of harrowing thought that Puyallup, Washington’s Ergo I Exist dwell in with their debut album The Depths providing an emotive ride into the abyss. Continue reading
When you release a fourteen-song follow-up to an album you released barely six months previously you’re either 1) beyond prolific, or 2) blessed with too much time on your hands. When the music involved possesses the quirkiness and diversity of German quintet Black Space Riders, it becomes an even more staggering achievement.Continue reading