Review: “City” by Tribe Of Ghosts

“City was written off the back of us becoming a 4 piece band in 2022. It was our first experimentation with using synths and samples within our music and it helped us craft the stories that we wanted to tell! Once we’d finished most of the pre-production, we began working with our dear friend and collaborator Paul ‘Win’-Winstanley (Grim Ravine, Haken and Novena) to help us fine tune our demos and get ready for us all to hit the studio – We went to hang out with our friends in Brighton Electric to record Danny’s drums and then afterwards we headed to Win’s studio to record the vocals, bass and guitars over the span of 5 months. When we were recording, the aim wasn’t to create an album that sounded perfect – We wanted to represent the sound that encapsulated the chaotic and feral nature of Tribe Of Ghosts, and we couldn’t be prouder of the team that helped capture who we are and grow into who we’ve become” ~ Tribe Of Ghosts

For the past couple of years Tribe Of Ghosts have been captivating audiences all over our green and pleasant land, blazing a trail in Industrially tinged Post-Metal the like of which we have seldom previously witnessed. The Brighton based four piece have made their presence felt with the waterfall release of a collection of singles in that time, their vision of combining electronic soundscapes, extreme metal influences and pop vocals with haunting and devastating effects to depict a dystopian world falling apart leaving discerning listeners in a state of cathartic rapture. Those songs have taken them to lofty heights, a performance upon the  Sophie Lancaster Stage at Bloodstock 2023 after support slots with Imperial Triumphant, Urne and Hundred Year Old Man no doubt a special moment that will live long in their collective memories. A full length album or an EP has at times felt long overdue but the band have been doing the hard yards, putting in the work and making sure that record falls into the long awaited, highly anticipated category. Now it’s finally here it transpires that the record is a concept album, rich in science fiction themes, which tells the story of a dystopian society living in an unnamed metropolis. The ruling classes abuse and harvest the population leaving a society of punishment, violence and debauchery. As the journey continues, the increasing violations leave nothing left to harvest, whereupon the society collapses beneath the waves of a biblical flood that drowns the metropolis – the survivors are rescued, but are left with the shared trauma of what they have suffered and wondering what they do with their survival…

…as fans we have heard a good number of the songs that make up “City” either in isolation or live and perhaps in a different running order. As an album, those pieces of the puzzle fall suddenly into place and it becomes immediately apparent why “Sunburner (Deny The Rot)“, a cut which features a guest vocal from Ben Mason of Bound In Fear and Pintglass fame, isn’t present. As good a track as it is, it doesn’t fit the narrative of record as a whole and would stand out like a sore thumb. That’s because with “City“, Tribe of Ghosts have created something that is cohesive and that has incredible flow to it with a distinctive beginning, middle and end. The journey begins with the title track, an instrumental introduction piece that sets the tone with distorted guitars and an eerie sense of dread, the electronics sounding like they’ve been ripped from the darker moments of Guillermo del Toro’s “Pacific Rim“. Building upon that foundation “Hive” then feels like you’ve walked into a scene from “Blade Runner” with, the unrelenting rain soaking you to the bone in a jungle of concrete and neon lights. A DJent fuelled Tech-Metal riff is chemically enhanced by samples and synths to create the darkness while vocals intertwine to stunning effect. The lush clean sung parts from Beccy Blaker mesmerise while the harsh uncleans from Adam Sedgwick provide the perfect counter weight, none of the urgency lost as the pair demonstrate their prowess. That continues into the almost mournful first half of “Stargazer” as the population of the metropolis look back at their past and what might have been. Captivating and emotive the song has the essence of a Science Fiction Horror from the 1980’s captured perfectly in the programming, the ache of the clean vocals stunning. A bridge over troubled waters in Industrial sounds gives a sense of impending doom, as if something wicked this way comes before the final onslaught of heavy guitars and harsh vocals hits like a hammer blow.

Different influences rise to the surface with “False Gods”, a track which brings to mind 90’s bands like Kidneytheives as vocalist Becky Blaker has a clean vocal which has a similar air to that of Free Dominguez. The programming on this one is laced with nuances, sounds you didn’t hear on previous listens rising to the surface each time it plays out, while a hypnotic groove laced guitar part ensures that there is plenty of bite to the soundscape. What has been done incredibly well here is that Tribe Of Ghosts have captured a primitive and yet complex soundscape on this one, carefully avoiding the desire to polish things when they don’t need to. That in turn means that the raw and emotive qualities of the vocals are allowed to shine, their contrast a sublime punishment of the best possible kind with the aching beauty of Blaker’s moments enthralling. One of the oldest cuts in the Tribe Of Ghosts playbook “Cold” remains as essential here as when it was first released. As the title suggests there is a bleak quality to it as it describes The Matrix like fields of bodies for harvesting that the higher powers have come use; building from cinematic soundscapes with some almost Operatic vocal moments into pummelling percussion with a powerful rhythmic dynamic in the final third. The song is a journey that takes an audience from swaying like marionettes to mosh pit activity as it plays out and that transition is an essential part of what makes it utterly brilliant. “Desolation Will Be Their Only Reward” is the same kind of journey but condensed into just 140 seconds, a lush first half replaced by a crushing second in which Sludge Metal riffs and Vein or Full Of Hell influences are King.

After the shorter, sharper shock comes the powerful “Reign“, a moment of contemplation in rich instrumental progression as the storm clouds gather overhead and the tale of a biblical flood unfolds. Mesmerizing in its dark beauty it finds bassist Ben Kitching and drummer Danny Yates providing the backbone upon which everything is placed and they deserve a lot of credit for the powerful, storm like crescendo that is reaches. After the apocalyptic floods “Dream Gallery” is that dreamy moment, where you look up from beneath the waves to see floating bodies in perfect calm. A cinematic moment that of clarity where all is still, it’s a piece stunningly well crafted as an interlude before the Massive Attack inspired “Float Down” continues the epic nature of the record. Sedgwick’s clean vocal parts impress as the band make great use of vocal layering to build the sound, the guitar work being the heaviest element in this dark world. The icy keys in the final moments send a shiver down the spine, the musicianship impeccable throughout. Combining feelings of hope and trauma “A Lesson Learnt In Silence” brings the curtain down on this stunning collection with something that has an air of Modern Metalcore familiarity. Its the aftermath of a harrowing tale and you can’t help but get carried away with the emotive nature of the beast as the guitars chug and the percussion blasts, a final fleeting moment of power leaving you wondering what you’ve just heard. How is it possible that this is just the start? [9/10]

Track Listing

1. City
2. Hive
3. Stargazer
4. False Gods
5. Cold
6. Desolation Will Be Their Only Reward
7. Reign
8. Dream Gallery
9. Float Down
10. A Lesson Learnt In Silence

“City” by Tribe Of Ghosts is out 14th October 2024