The Ghost of a Thousand - New Hopes, New Demonstrations (Review: Dan)

I've always moaned about Ghost of a Thousand because I said they sounded like Gallows. Upon listening I've since learned that's not really true.
I'm torn with GOAT. Musically it's pretty good, it's fast, it's agressive and it's a good listen all the way through. Vocally it's a different story though. Tom Lacey has an unusual vocal style. His screaming is like a slightly less gravel-y and a higher-pitched Frank Carter (Gallows). In fact I'd say he's like the exact midpoint between Carter and Joel O'Keefe (Airbourne). Ocassionally on the record there are vocal parts that are sung. I'm curious as to whether or not this is the same man, because it sounds a lot like Morrissey...

Moved By Mountains, Dreamt of by the Sea is a great album opener; it displays exactly what to expect from the album. The energy throughout the album is maintained pretty much all the way through, and they're one of those bands you can tell would put on a good live show. They didn't do what most hardcore/post-hardcore bands do these days, which is have a load of fast songs, and then throw in a few softer, slower ones. It's almost as if it's the rule to do this (see Alexisonfire). Speaking of Alexisonfire, the guitar-work is very similar in the two bands, but where AOF can't seem to stick to one rythm, constantly slowing songs down, chucking solos about and doing the same with the vocals, GOAT succeed. GOAT keep things simple and consistent and it's effective in it's execution.

My only problem is that I found myself bored on the third listen. I've never liked the vocal style that GOAT have gone with, which was always going to be a problem. One of the main reasons I've enjoyed post-hardcore bands is because there is always a Dallas Green to keep me hooked. GOAT don't really offer me that, it's just a full-on assault from start to finish. NH,ND is a good album...I just don't really like it. Also, I don't know whether it's the fault of Matt's provided link or the production of the album but it doesn't sound very good. The vocals are much quieter than the music, and a lot of the time is sounds quite muffled. Canyons of Static also annoys me, as I'm sure you can guess from the title, they seem to have thrown some annoying static sounds in there, which does nothing but ruin the music.

This is the second album I'm going to give 3/5 to this week, because it's pretty mixed, but more good than it is bad. And I don't really like it...An interesting listen though, I'd certainly recommend it to fans of the genre.

Standout Tracks:
Moved as Moutains, Dreamt of by the Sea
Running on Empty
Fed to the Ocean

Dan