Chuck Schuldiner Project

Friday, October 20, 2017

Ghold - Stoic

Cover art

This is one of the weirder things to have come across my desk in the last few weeks - and I gotta say I love it. There's not enough bands out there like Ghold, bands who break boundaries and spread their wings in order to craft something that is visionary and unique. Stoic is the sort of record that forces you to ask questions of the world and come to terms with the darker side of the music world. There is a weirdly transcendent force behind these crashing chords and overwhelming song structures and it can't help but to be addictive.

For the first release from burgeoning label Crypt Of The Wizard, Stoic is certainly a daring choice, but also in many ways a logical one. This is an album that crunches forward in a way that almost feels unhuman, yet clearly taps into the influence of so many, ranging from everyone from Neurosis to Swans to Cult Of Luna. They have that simply colossal guitar tone suited for big rooms, mind melting theaters and bone melting shows. There is an intensity to Ghold that can be tricky to wrap your head around, especially given that the album so gleefully gives time to negative space. And yet it is that selfsame negative space which helps make it so addictive.

Getting lost in Stoic is a hell of a time, it speaks to a different era of music but also the power that the latest wave of art metal can have. Ghold is a band who stun from top to bottom, freely adding experimental bits, progressive melodies and powerful vocals in a variety of styles. Quite the record to wrap your head around, Ghold represents a path that is unwavering and bold. Their artistic vision clear and their sound turning into a perfectly honed assault, it is hard to turn away from what has been wrought here.

Find them on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/pg/gholdband

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