Album Review: THE GHOST INSIDE The Ghost Inside (6/5)

The Ghost Inside is an American metalcore band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2004 and releasing the first LP in 2008. The Ghost Inside is the self-titled and fifth studio album. It's the band's first album since 2015 drastic tour bus crash that killed their driver and inflicted life-threatening injuries to the band members. It is also their first album to feature rhythm guitarist Chris Davis. I remember when their previous album Dear Youth came out in 2014, not because of the music but because the artwork was an almost copy of The Dillinger Escape Plan's 2013 album cover One of Us Is the Killer. I also must say that Metalcore is not a sub-genre that I listen to a lot, but I do like quite a few bands within this area.

The first single is the final track on the album and it deals head on with their horrific experience. According to bassist Jim Riley "it's the final punctuation on that chapter of our lives". By watching the video it's great to see their positive and inspiring attitude. It won't be a surprise that the whole album is influenced by what they’ve been through. But like the video, the band channeled those emotions in the right way to create an an album with glowing reflection and newfound hope. As a result the songs are energetic and pissed-off . Musically, The Ghost Inside sound a lot like a mix of Killswitch Engage and Parkway Drive. Clean vocals are rarely used and guitar solos even less. There's a fair amount of gang vocals and breakdowns. There are some interesting and heavy songs that I'd love to see in a summer festival such as "Still Alive", "Pressure Point", "Overexposure" and "Phoenix Rise". But there are many less interesting songs with a lack of variability. I did like the few moments of  slightly progressiveness, such as the mid-tempo "Unseen". On the other hand, the clean-vocals-dominated-radio-friendly "One Choice" is not in harmony with the rest of the album and it's too pop-friendly for my taste.

All in all, The Ghost Inside is a remarkable return following horrific bus accident. Lyrically, energy and production-wise, this is a good album. Musically, it is nothing that I haven't heard before and it falls into repetition and lack of distinctiveness. For metalcore fans that don't mind getting more of the same, this is one of the best bets of the year so far in this sub-genre. Welcome back guys!

SCORE: 77/100
Genre: Metalcore
Released by Epitaph Records on June 5th, 2020

Follow BeMetalaways Spotify Playlist with upcoming metal releases

Rating System*
99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

* slightly adapted on May 24th, 2020 due to statistical review
wordcount = 412