STYLE: Hard Music RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 114933-18076 LABEL: Independent FORMAT: CD EP ITEMS: 1 RELEASE DATE: 2011-05-03
Reviewed by Peter John Willoughby
A Sequence Of Ghosts is a hardcore band from Kansas City. They have been together for just over a year and are marking this by bringing out their second EP. They have been compared to Bring Me The Horizon, Oh Sleeper and Life In Your Way. Although describing themselves as ambient hardcore, there was very little ambience to be found. Instead 'Hostage(s)' is straight-forward hardcore with breakdowns, blast beats and screamed vocals. Rather than just showing off their own talents on the opening track, "The Enabler" also features additional screamed vocals from Danon Saylor (A Bullet For Pretty Boy). "The Hostage" visits the darker emotions when people put you down and you turn frustrations in on yourself, rather than venting them. Notably it contains delicate, sweeping vocals by Elle Puckett of Poema, which should have been placed higher in the mix. "The Bee And Its Swarm" takes in loathing and self-doubt with equal measure with "I'll plead forgiveness/I'll be honest by lying to you/I've believed a liar/And I've built a wall to block my prayers from heaven/When all I wanted/Was to feel loved/ was to feel loved". Disenchantment with the media and the political leanings that are fed to us as absolute truths are questioned in "The Politician". Finally, "Reach The Shore" is a blatantly rampaging hardcore worship track. It also contains one of the few clean vocal parts by Jake Germany, singing part of the hymn "It Is Well With My Soul".
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