EXTREME metal and concept albums - a dichotomy surely; yet Ghetikamanage to pull it off in a weird, yet beautiful album which explores the outer realms of acceptability.
Here in the 21st Century it is rare that one finds a self-released album of such intensity and passion than that released by Ghetika - an English band that have produced a revelatory piece of metal.
This release came out of left-field and it has been out on release for a number of weeks - weeks that we took to assess what it is all about.
The musicianship is outstanding with 'One Night:Seven Sins' and the previously released - and now re-recorded 'Stack the Pyres' among the tracks that stand out.
"'A Monster In Mourning' is the title of one of the album tracks and we felt that this song summed up the whole concept of the story. One of the main characters has a fairly monstrous reputation, yet within the lyrics and the story you get to see why he's become the way he is and even get to see things from his point of view; see that he's filled with remorse and tormented by his conscience. So naming the album after this track, and with reference to this character in particular, just made sense."
"As we'd agreed that this would be a concept album following a story from start to finish, we had to work quite differently to how we usually would; for a start I had to come up with some 'working track titles' to give a feel for each stage/chapter of the story - this helped Scott and Topher in writing riffs that would suit the feel of each track."
That 'feel' is something that gels the album together, whether it be the tale of a massacre at a masquerade ball (The Massquerade) or the high concept of the back story behind a monster. A definite grower and a definite high standard release from Ghetika
Here in the 21st Century it is rare that one finds a self-released album of such intensity and passion than that released by Ghetika - an English band that have produced a revelatory piece of metal.
This release came out of left-field and it has been out on release for a number of weeks - weeks that we took to assess what it is all about.
The musicianship is outstanding with 'One Night:Seven Sins' and the previously released - and now re-recorded 'Stack the Pyres' among the tracks that stand out.
Producer Owen Davies has captured an esoteric extreme metal sound, when mush of what is going on could easily have been lost.
But the reality of a concept album is that it must have an inner core as well as the deeper meanings. That inner core is where the music compliments the theme that it is almost onomatopoeic in places, something which is evident on the title track 'A Monster In Mourning' as vocalist Anthony Knight explained:
"'A Monster In Mourning' is the title of one of the album tracks and we felt that this song summed up the whole concept of the story. One of the main characters has a fairly monstrous reputation, yet within the lyrics and the story you get to see why he's become the way he is and even get to see things from his point of view; see that he's filled with remorse and tormented by his conscience. So naming the album after this track, and with reference to this character in particular, just made sense."
"As we'd agreed that this would be a concept album following a story from start to finish, we had to work quite differently to how we usually would; for a start I had to come up with some 'working track titles' to give a feel for each stage/chapter of the story - this helped Scott and Topher in writing riffs that would suit the feel of each track."
That 'feel' is something that gels the album together, whether it be the tale of a massacre at a masquerade ball (The Massquerade) or the high concept of the back story behind a monster. A definite grower and a definite high standard release from Ghetika
Review by Jonny
Authors: Jonny
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