Tag Archives: Steve Vai

ALBUM REVIEW: Babymetal – The Other One

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Babymetal is back as only Babymetal can be. Their new offering is The Other One (Cooking Vinyl). Here are constants you can be sure of when you buy a Babymetal album: amazing technically proficient guitar playing, headbanging goodness, a wild landscape of movement and feeling, and The Other One delivers this with aplomb.

 

The Other One is a concept album about being in a place called the Metalverse. Each of the ten songs have a specific theme concerning being in the parallel worlds that are discovered within this Metalverse. However, one must understand Japanese to understand the lyrics and the deeper meanings behind the songs. This facet does not distract from the amazeballz that is Babymetal.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Steve Vai – Vai – Gash

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As one of the most acclaimed guitarists and artists we have seen, Steve Vai has achieved a lot in terms of success and styles. Even so, it’s perhaps unusual to associate him with the image of Biker gangs and riding Harleys, yet this is exactly what is conjured by Vai/Gash (Mascot Label Group). Recorded around thirty years ago with his, sadly departed friend Johnny “Gash” Sombrotto, this collaboration now sees the light of day.

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STAFF PICKS: Ghost Cult Photographer Chris Small’s Top 20 Albums of 2022

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Ghost Cult’s Chris Small (aka Smallz, Papa Smallz) has been an essential member of our live coverage team this year and chipped in a few other types of reviews over the years as well. When he is not voraciously consuming heavy music, he is also a dad, documents underground rap shows, and streams on Twitch. Here are his top 20 albums of 2022 list! Peace and Chicken grease, as Chris would say…

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ALBUM REVIEW: Devin Townsend – Lightwork

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It’s been three years since Canadian musical contortionist Devin Townsend confused the hell out of everyone with Empath, an album of such relentless eclecticism and stupefying eccentricity that even now it remains almost beyond comprehension. A kitchen sink album in every respect, our heroic Canuck threw literally everything into the mix. From death metal and jazz to Chad Kroeger and cats, Empath was the mindfuck to end all mindfucks.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Polyphia – Remember That You Will Die

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Since their inception in 2010, Polyphia have proven to be an ever-moving entity; one that is hugely (and purposefully) hard to pigeonhole, even across the duration of each album. Armed with potent musicianship across the board, the band have ever expanded their sound from their early days culminating currently to a cauldron of styles and tones across. It is likely you will hear this about many artists but it is a sentiment that reigns entirely true on Remember That You Will Die (Rise Records).

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The Top Ten Stories at Ghost Cult This Week 9-30-22

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In a new feature here, we recap the biggest stories of the week here at Ghost Cult! We went to 12, because fuck it, it’s our list! This week Slipknot keeps ruling, footage from the Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins tribute show in LA, an Alice in Chains classic hits 30, Metallica books one more special gig this year, Desertfest 2023’s first lineup announced, help for Karyn Crisis, interviews with KEN Mode, and Pathos & Logos, Polyphia, a King Crimson documentary is geetting a big release in theaters, and more! Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Sarattma – Escape Velocity

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Escape Velocity (Nefarious Industries) is the debut album from Philidelphia, Pennsylvania-based instrumental duo Sarattma, and follows their debut Inner Spaces EP released in 2017. Featuring Mellowdeath and ex-Brian Jonestown Massacre drummer Sara Neidorf and Cleric guitarist Matt Hollenberg, their music is highly experimental with a distinct edge of tripped-out psychedelia, and is uniquely impressive! Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Ed Wynne – Tumbling Through The Floativerse

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Ed Wynne is best known as the founder and only consistent member of Ozric Tentacles. An emblematic group within the nineties hippy revival scene who have continued to endure, the Ozrics fuse instrumental prog rock with psychedelic dance music. I discovered them in the early 2000s at a time when I was starting to seek out a more diverse listening experience encompassing more than just the seventies hard rock I had, by then, already grown somewhat tired of, and they served as a bridge into the multifaceted world of electronic music.Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Ibaraki – Rashomon

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Ibaraki is the new solo project from Trivium’s Matt Heafy, and Rashomon is released through Nuclear Blast, having been over a decade in the making. The name translates as “Wild Trees”, but is also taken from a terrifying Japanese demon of feudal legend, and the concept is a profound affirmation of Heafy’s Japanese-American heritage, incorporating a number of different musical styles. Although the main inspiration clearly sits within the black etal genre, taking influence from the experience of Emperor’s Ihsahn, who co-produced, and whose quirkier ideas from his solo work are peppered throughout the release. Continue reading →


CONCERT REVIEW: Devin Townsend (Acoustic) – Cambridge Junction

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You can tell it’s not going to be a normal gig from the off, as Devin Townsend spends the first few minutes tuning and chatting away, completely at ease, as if the audience was an old friend and he was sat in his living room. As he pings and strums away, musing about whether he likes his upcoming new album Lightworks or not (he decides he does, he thinks it sounds healthy, and good… he thinks, yes definitely good), he sets the tone for a gig that is genuinely intimate – not because it takes place in a small venue, but because Devin is completely natural and wholly authentic throughout. Continue reading →