Ghostlord "Abyssic Death Masters" CD Digipack

Descripción You would be forgiven to think that “Abyssic Death Masters”, the first entry by Italian act Ghostlord in form of a demo, is your classic run-of-the-mill old school death metal stuff. By looking at the cover and the band logo you would expect something like old Grave, but while the music has a strong old school feeling this is something different. Four songs and 34 minutes playing time is what you get here, and I am still not 100 % sure what to think of this. What I can definitely say is that this is an interesting and weirdly fascinating piece of music.
Labelled as doom/death I personally hear quite a lot of the aesthetics here that might be common within the dungeon synth genre. I am not too familiar with this so I cannot really give a final judgement on this. What can be noticed in the first place is the very strange and raw sounding nature of the music. The distortion level is high, underlining the dissonant nature of the harmonies. Hall and reverb have also been used to create kind of an otherworld feeling, making the whole thing sounding as if recorded in a forgotten crypt.
Like often the case when it comes to such music this record does not always follow a simple pop song formula consisting of the traditional verse-bridge-chorus parts. The songs feature arrangements that flow and evolve as each riff closes. Each transition marks an indistinguishable final chapter in a song segment. This album is mostly comprised of pieces, not standard songs. However, it is the way how those pieces have been put together that makes this an interesting piece of music.
The whole record can be seen like a natural synthesis of mournful sounds and disparate styles all combined in one bold, enlightened display of unbound creativity. In some way it feels more like a surreal journey to places dark and unknown. The synth lines are hovering over the distorted voice and the fuzzy instrumentation. As a listener you have the feeling as you witness the music through a wall of glass, with the end product being warped and grotesque. Metal fans who are open for something different should give “Abyssic Death Masters” a try and judge by themselves.
Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jhnVs5YP4A