G H O S T S - An Ending

G H O S T S (hereby referenced as GHOSTS to save the formatting of this review), is an industrial rock and gothic rock influenced project from Birmingham in the United Kingdom. Established as one of the hidden projects of the current age, GHOSTS has been steadily teasing their debut album since two years ago when their debut single 'The Loop' hit YouTube in the form of a music video. Well edited and filmed, GHOSTS would continue their reign of video marketing with teases, and music videos for 'Fading Out' and 'Oblivion'. All this has led up to (or in the case of the music video for 'Oblivion', coincided with) the release of their ten track debut album "An Ending".

What I would immediately like to commend GHOSTS for is the cover art of the album. It's a twisted art piece straight out of a body horror film. Someone with either plastic or a curtain draped over themselves is highlighted by dim red-lighting. Their head, however, is multiple heads, showing off scores of emotion; to me, it seems as if apathy, pleasure, and pain is all showcased. This is disturbing enough, but gets better (or worse, depending on how you look at it) by the third hand melting into the chest of the person in the piece. The cover art was something I studied throughout the opening track of "An Ending" titled 'The Loop'. Well done as far as eye-catching is concerned.



Moving into the album, I would like to start off with a song that I found to be the highlight of the album. This begins with the track 'Oblivion In Her Smile'. This slow-ballad begins with a slow industrial beat that's eventually accented with founder Richard Watson's whispered vocals. Around the one-minute and forty-second mark, the song transcends from silence and into a brighter future; drums and guitars kick out for a moment as Watson's voice takes a louder tone. The industrial beat solos for a while until we're brought into an uproar of industrial rock goodness that jammed until the final moments of the track. 

And now I'm going to backtrack to the beginning of the album with 'The Loop'. As I listened to the song on multiple plays, I found myself enjoying the beat, but I was also left wondering, "What's unique about this?" and "What makes this stand out from other industrial rock or even alternative rock bands?" GHOSTS is a project that pulls influence from the 90s and that was easily noted. Most recognizably, I felt a huge influence from NIN on 'The Loop' and subsequent songs such as 'The Day The Dam Breaks', 'The Other Place', and 'Shadows'. Aside from the experimental nature of the last track on the album, 'Scratches', "An Ending" plays out beat-for-beat as a typical industrial rock album.

Nonetheless, the production on the album is great. Each of the songs are crisp, clear, and concise, which allowed me to seep in all the keyboard work, guitars, and drums. While Richard Watson took care of vocals, guitars, bass, synthesizers, keyboards, and programming, he brought in two friends for the drum work. Henrik Fossum took care of drums on the first, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth song, while Tom Gittins took care of the drum work on tracks two, three, and four. It's also worth noting that Gittins was the producer for the album. However, as nice as the quality of sound is, that did not make me fall in love with the album. 

At the end of the day, when I finished "An Ending" after multiple pass-throughs, I found myself starting to get bored with the album. Yes, it's an industrial rock album and Watson understands the genre very well, but it's way too familiar to stand out amongst the crowd. Drawing from nostalgia can be a great thing, but if you lean too heavily on it (as seen by many bands from all over the place) it can act as more of a crutch than a benefactor. And I think that's the main issue with "An Ending". It does not sound like a brand new, original product with a unique take on a genre but just another 90s industrial rock clone.

What Watson does have down, however, is production and aesthetic. As indie as his music videos might be, they look professional. His cover-art is bonkers good to the point where I wished I had it on the wall in my office. So, if Watson could take the creative energy he has for his physical art and applied it to the audio, I think something great would happen. Step-out of the comfort zone so many other bands find themselves in, sprout, and you'll make a phenomenal album. Right now, this one is okay. It's definitely not bad, but nothing noteworthy either. And for all the reasons stated above, I grant this album a six-out-of-ten. 

This review was commissioned through our Ko-fi page.
Mar 20 2021