Tag: Ghost

Ghost – “Skeletà” review

Ghost is a hard rock/heavy metal band from Linköping, Östergötlands län, Sweden consisting of percussionist Olivia Morreale, keyboardist/percussionist Mad Gallica, keyboardist/percussionist Laura Scarborough, baritone guitarist/percussionist Jutty Taylor, drummer Hayden Scott, bassist Cos Sylvan, rhythm guitarist Randy Moore, lead guitarist Per Eriksson & of course frontman Tobias Forge. Breaking out nearly 15 years ago off their debut Opus Eponymous, their sophomore effort Infestissumam marked their debut on Loma Vista Recordings to initially mixed reception although it’s viewed more favorably in retrospect. Meliora came out after I graduated high school was my introduction to them, seeing the band on the tour they did for it & put on a theatrically superb performance. Prequelle toned it down on the heaviness although “Dance Macabre” got the stamp of approval from former NXT Champion, AEW World Trios Champion & PWG World Tag Team Champion Aleister Black married to the new WWE Women’s United States Champion Zelina Vega in addition to the inaugural AEW World Champion, FTW Champion, 2-time ROH World Champion, ECW World Television Champion, IWGPインターコンチネンタル王座, WCW World Television Champion, 6-time WWE world champion, record 9-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 2-time WWE United States Champion, 7-time WWE tag team champion, 4-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion & WWE Hardcore Champion Chris Jericho and Impera is widely regarded as their weakest effort so far, taking 3 years off to focus on the band’s 6th studio LP.

“Peacefield” sets the tone of what’s to come with it’s prominent AOR & hard rock influences with additional elements of heavy metal dashed in describing at present a state of chaos & despair whilst instructing how to achieve renewal whereas “Lachryma” talks about being done crying over the restrictions of religion. “Satanized” maintains a hard rock/AOR vibe sprinkling a couple heavy metal & glam metal undertones asking to be saved from the monster eating inside of him, but then “Guiding Light” continues with a soul searching epic ballad.

To end Skeletà’s first half, “De Profundis Borealis” pays homage to one of the most important bands in the Norwegian black metal scene Immortal while “Cenotaph” receives affirmation of eternal presence of the memory of a loved one who has passed away. “Missilia Amori” sings about someone excited to be his demise just before “Marks of the Evil One” references the antichrist further including a line that had me think of the Death Riders led by the current 4-time AEW World Champion, former AEW International Champion, 2-time CZW World Heavyweight Champion, GCW World Champion, IWGP世界ヘビー級王座, 2-time IWGP USヘビー級王座, WWE Champion, 3-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion & 2-time WWE tag team champion Jon Moxley. “Umbra” puts their love in the darker shadows & “Excelsis” embraces us all meeting or demise 1 day.

Nevertheless of Impera’s mixed reception, Ghost recovers by delivering their most unflinchingly introspective work to date including lyricism of the newly instated Perpetua & showcasing a variety of distinct individual emotional vistas embracing the sounds of hard rock, occult rock, AOR, pop rock, heavy metal & glam metal. Almost a decade this summer since I became a fan & I’m only happy they made up for the predecessor’s mixed discourse.

Score: 3.5/5

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Summrs – “Ghost” review

Summrs is a 23 year old rapper from Lafayette, Louisiana emerging up as a member of the Goonie-founded Slayworld collective. He presence has been known predominantly in the plugg scene by constantly dropping projects whether it be his previous EP What We Have & Fallen Raven, both of which I highly recommend listening to if you wanna get into his music. But coming fresh off Stuck in My Ways a little over 3 months ago, Rino’s keeping things rolling by dropping his 8th full-length album & his 2nd of 2023 as of me writing this.

“Devil on My Back” is a wavy trap opener making it clear that all of his homies are about business & God helps him remain catching Ws whereas “Like Woah” takes a glitchier approach courtesy of BNYX from Working on Dying describing the neat freak in his life. “Shake It” has a bit of an EDM groove to it this time around talking about a woman feeling nobody else but him prior to “Eye 4 Eye” working in some hi-hats & a ghostly loop so he can boast lyrically.

Desire is the only feature on the album making his first appearance on the lively “Rich n Turnt” showing off their wealth & how lit they are just before “Real Goat” has a bassy trap vibe to it talking about being the best at the end of the day. “Prayer” delves into how much this Brazilian baddie he bagged is like his twin with an instrumental that has a psychedelic edge to it leading into the rubbery yet horn-infused “No Really” talking about being a prodigy.

Meanwhile, “Ball 4 Ball” finds Desire returning 1 last time for an ethereal trap banger continuing to flex on the lyrical side of things until “Got Dat Moneh” delves into rage territory addressing his riches. “Free Body” returns to a hazy trap sound telling those who’ve never seen a hundred or milli’ piece that they can’t ever speak to him, but then “Like BK” makes a turn into hypertrap territory once more giving his props to another dope artist in the rage/plugg subgenres at the current moment: Bktherula.

“I’m Paid” blends some hi-hats & ghostly background vocals so dude can keeping touching on his wealth while “Nvr Losing” is a synth-trap crossover talking about not taking an L in his life ever again. “God Like” comes through with a more ultramodern beat comparing basically talking about being as untouchable as possible & “Goty” switches it up by pulling from cloud rap a bit with his goal being to have his children get $100M in their each one of their wills.

As we reach the final leg of the album, “Meet You There” had a bit of a Travis Scott influence sonically telling this girl not to call him & simply leave him alone while “Munchkin” talks about being on top of the mountain over some more synth-based production. The song “Slowflow” hooks up some hi-hats & chilling auto-tuned vocals admitting he just wanted to hit a lab rat that his homies can have back while the penultimate track “It Get Krazy” gets bombastic for nearly 2 minutes talking about how nuts shit can get. The closer though is an sincere, atmospheric tribute to the late Virgil Abloh.

Stuck in My Ways is still my favorite of the 2 albums that we’ve gotten from Summrs this year so far, but Ghost is still worth checking it to me if you’re a fan of his in any capacity because I admire how he’s been trying to elevate my flows & sound on here as well as introducing him into his creative mind on here. On top of that, I like how it’s nearly 10 minutes shorter than last time & ditches the plugg elements in order to save them for his next body of work.

Score: 3.5/5

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