The massive reunion album “The Ghost Inside” by The Ghost Inside
This particular album review might come off as an emotional experience for a music blogger in me as because I was deeply hurt by it when the news broke out about that incident back in 2016, but after six years, we are finally here, getting a much needed album from The Ghost Inside itself. An album that the fans asked for all these years.
The Concept : - 2015, must have been one of the most saddest year for the metalcore fans
when the California based metalcore band “THE GHOST INSIDE” met with one of the most disastrous road accidents of the decade that almost took the life and career of the band. The band’s new self-titled album is set to be released in the first week of June but we got an early taste of it over iTunes preview. As for the concept goes, the album’s subject matter is the reflection of that traumatic experience all these years. Let’s dig in into more details of what actually happed six years ago and how The Ghost Inside overcame it.
History and timeline of the incident : - As memory serves, the band was on their final stages of their 2014 album, “Dear Youth” tour, when their official tour bus got totalled in the highway and the band barely made out alive. Most of the members were hospitalized and these things were sort of covered over the debut single from the album, “aftermath” that was accompanied with a music video. For six years the band almost went blank and things were not the same as before, to the point where their career was a stake and the band had to call in a hiatus.
On the morning of November 19, 2015, the band’s tour bus collided head on with a tractor trailer while headed west to Mesa, Arizona on U.S Highway 180, eight miles east of the border patrol checkpoint outside of El Pasos, texas, which lead to the death of the drivers of both of the vehicles and the band barely making out alive. However, no clear Intel about whose fault it was and what lead to the accident.
On January 13, 2016, Mr. Jonathan Vigil, the frontman of the band posted over his instagram
handle that he was “grateful to be alive” after that incident for the first time since that accident. Drummer Andrew however, was in a worse condition that made him lose his one leg like we mentioned earlier and recovering from a ten day initial coma.
On March 22nd 2016, during a livestream of the Wraped tour band announcement, The Ghost Inside was billed into the line-up, an announcement that was lying in a haywire until on February 10th 2017, Jonathan said that they won’t be able to tour further.
Aftermaths: - And, on April 17th 2018, the band held their first rehearsal since
the accident and on April 30th 2018, the band confirmed and assured that their fans can see them having a reunion. But the fans and friends of the band were surprised when the band finally dropped their first single in six years all of a sudden and made an announcement for a comeback album.
Sound and tone of the album: - Musically the album speaks volume of the fact that they survived the fate which was shown over the songs “Still alive” and “aftermath” and the song “one choice” was a clear message that either embrace that fate and fight to get strong or give in and quit, which The Ghost Inside clearly didn’t wanted to do. “Phoenix rise” on the other is the epitome of that age old tale of phoenix’s rebirth from the ashes like Andrew woke up ten days after his coma. The tone of the album is gritty and intense and tries to cover the emotions of that traumatic experiences that was shown over the vocal performance of Jonathan Vigil that have showcased that fear of traumas in his yells along with that feeling of triumph over his growls, which appears like an wounded Ox have now transformed into a howling wolf. The instrumentals and the cohesive lyricism plays a deeper part behind this concept of trauma and triumph and everything falls right into the pieces. This no more the same The Ghost Inside we used to now but have become a strong entity, a force to be reckoned with. The proximity of that experience is now long gone for those who endured it, and this was the only thing that matters for the band and the fans now.
Composition and arrangement: - Composition and arrangement wise the album is well crafted, is more groovy, catchy and technical than ever and has that rhythmic hook and melodic refrain. While the growl and yells shows that haunting experience of that traumatic accident, the clean vocals however, makes things more like a calm after the storm. Mix of the album the really impressive and bring in a fresh spin to the overall sound. Also, the album is not like a typical radio friendly mainstream metalcore album but that disk where the band is trying to be themselves and replicate that whole experience and how they have overcome from it as a whole.
Overall Experience as a listener: - Overall, it’s a strong comeback and is a massive treat for the fans of the band and clearly shows where The Ghost Inside as a band shall move towards now and find themselves at. A strong message of never giving in and never giving up, and the struggle to rise above all. Failure is not just an option anymore for them, and with this massive comeback we can say that they will have a large array of more successful career that they had once. Also, for us it came as a surprising this factor that the disk was dropped in the time when the whole music community was going through this experience of global COVID-19 pandemic. Maybe, we needed this one like an anthem to feel triumphed while we are going through this experience. Indeed this album was put in the hour of our needs and we are not exaggerating on that thought at all. This might not be one of those mainstream albums in the mainstream metal genres and among the mainstream metal fan base judging by the fact that how still underrated The Ghost Inside as a band is, but the message was clear, “You don’t quit because of one bad experience, you get strong and carry on.”For now we just hope that the metalheads will see them burning the stages on tour again real soon, if of course Corona decides to leave, anytime now buddy!
Honest Rating: - A straight up 9.5/10 for the disk and is a must listen if you want some dose of melodic hardcore and melodic metalcore.
Track list Details : -
1. 1333
2. Still alive
3. The outcast
4. Pressure point
5. Overexposure
6. Make or break
7. Unseen
8. One Choice
9. Phoenix rise
10. Begin again
11. Aftermath
Recommended songs and release history: - The Ghost Inside’s new self-titled album is getting an official release on June 5th 2020, the fans can buy the album from iTunes and pre-save and stream it over Spotify. Recommended songs to check out from the album would be; “Still alive”, “The outcast”, “one choice”, “Phoenix rise”, “the aftermath” but personally we will also recommend not to skip through the other songs if you want to feel that experience. All we can say that, we can’t wait for the album the come out and learn from that experience and relate by it. I guess this album is the second album with the theme of loss, since 2018’s “HOLY HELL” by the British metal band, Architects, where they replicated the traumatic experience of losing their former member Tom Searle, the late brother of Dan Searle and the former guitarist who died in 2016. We intended to cover this album “The Ghost Inside” by The Ghost Inside because we know that every musicians and artists has gone through that experience where they had lost a part of their lives and want to give out the message that nobody is alone in their fight to overcome from that loss. We just hope that the band and every one of their fans stays strong and learns to move on from all these, and now that the album is coming out this is going to be another hell of a ride!
The Ghost Inside is: - Johnathan Vigil (Vocals), Jim Riley (bass and backing vocals), Zach Johnson (guitar), Andrew Tkaczyk (drums and purcussions), and Chris Davis (guitar)
Genres: - Metalcore/Melodic Hardcore
Origin: - Los Angeles, California, USA
Status:-2004-2014, 2015 (Hiatus), 2018 (Reunion), 2020 (reactive)
For the fans of: - While She Sleeps, A Day to Remember, August Burns Red, and Texas In July
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