Track Listing: Bored Of Math :: Left For Dead :: Up To You :: New Toy :: Black Art Number One :: Married To The Sidewalk :: One For The Road :: As They Breed They Swarm :: No One Ever Gives You A Straight Answer To Anything :: The Last Bastion Of Heaven Lies Abandoned & Burning
On first listen to The Ghost Of A Thousand, I was heavily reminded of the charging, ear-splitting massacres of Will Haven and The Abominable Iron Sloth, so it was no surprise that these guys have supported such metal giants.
Hailing from Brighton, The Ghost Of A Thousand are formed of vocalist Tom Lacey, Andy Blyth and Jag Jago on guitars, Gez Walton on bass and drummer Memby Jago.
The opening track, Bored Of Math, gets the album off to an awesome start. We have manic funky drumming teamed with massive sounding guitar combos. This along side Lacey's perfectly strained vocals screaming about youth power pull you up by your Converse laces, and drag you along for the ride.
I'm a big fan of Lacey's vocals as you might have guessed. For too long the metal/guitar scene has been taken over by Myspace loving, hairsprayed, cocky teenagers who wear more makeup than air flight assistants. Mosh pits were lost to 'emo' fans backflipping and windmilling in unison - and the music... well, the music just disintegrated before our eyes. The Ghost of a Thousand are seemingly grabbing metal and taking it back to its hardcore 'don't give a f***' roots.
Following track one, we're met with more of the same themes. Bringing down those that hold power and letting us have our turn at the world. Throwing their fists up to the sky and shouting for freedom. Songs, as they say, 'about being young and unstoppable'. These themes are more commonly heard in Punk songs, which is why TGOAT categorise themselves under the genres of Hardcore / Rock / Punk - Another refreshing vibe that the scene desperately needs.
As the album progresses, the punk feel of each song becomes more apparent, with heavy chord structured melodies and Offspring-ish solo work. I can't stress how much of an awe inspiring change it is, for me atleast, to hear these two genres which were becoming worlds apart from each other merge so seamlessly into polished and amazing rock songs.'No One Ever Gives You A Straight Answer To Anything', apart from winning the award for longest track name i've ever reviewed, is my favourite from the album. More hardcore than punk, but still with a pinch of flavour thrown in, it's build-ups and breakdowns are of epic proportions. They end with 'The Last Bastion Of Heaven Lies Abandoned & Burning' which is a perfectly fitting finish to the album. Its versatile. Slow in parts, hard and heavy in others, somewhat similar to Deftones' early work, especially the bass heavy breakdown. Lacey also shows us he's got a strong, pure singing voice underneath his trained guttural roars, and the song fades out to intense mind numbing guitar feedback riot style noise. Perfect.
Visit the official site at www.theghostofathousand.com and http://www.myspace.com/theghostofathousand for sample tracks and more info on the band and their ongoing tour.