EP REVIEW: Ghost Dust – All Life Dies
The creative mind is an amazing thing. For some artists one outlet is simply not enough for the number of ideas that they keep contained in their heads. That is indeed the case with guitarist/vocalist Jessie Santos and bassist Semir Ozerkan who both ply their trade in progressive metal pathfinders OCEANS OF SLUMBER with their new project ALL LIFE DIES.
The pair have joined up with drummer David Sanchez Jr and guitarist/backing vocalist Joseph Martin to create the blackened, melodic death metal outfit. Together they have put together the debut release Ghost Dust, an EP that shows all the musicians stepping out of the respective comfort zones to create a body of work that is as scathing from the as it is hauntingly beautiful.
The band have stressed that this release is a story of damnation, acceptance and longing that must be heard, and that point is hammered home almost instantly with the opening track This Grave Is My Home. This music comes from the very bowels of darkness, with an overbearing tone of grimness and sheer savagery from the meticulously chosen distorted guitars, to the mechanical sounds of the drums everything is dialled up to eleven and channelled towards sheer brutality. The band then show a great change in dynamics and slow everything down, with a clean guitar and wonderful OPETH-inspired singing providing a welcome distraction from the visceral metal onslaught. The final minute or so is about as black metal as you could hope for with blast beats and shrill, high-pitched vocals cutting through the low-end distortion like lightening through a Scandinavian night sky to make sue the opening track really ticks all the boxes.
A Red Night is a very different state of affairs. The beautiful acoustic guitar plays off against the soulful singing in a way that is almost folky in its delivery. This is a stark contrast to the rest of the album and shows that the band are more than capable of covering plenty if different musical genres without anything feeling false, in a similar way to the Danish musician MYRKUR with her genre-defying blend of black and folk.
The closer and title track of the EP is a slice of pure atmospheric black metal which shows Sanchez Jr taking centre stage throughout and impressing with his technical proficiency. the transitions are seamless throughout as the band weather the waters of progressive metal, blackened death and straight up death metal without anything ever feeling cut and paste. This final chapter is truly something to behold with its sophisticated songwriting, which will undoubtedly leave the audience anticipating more material in hopefully the not-too-distant future. There is even the surprise inclusion of an impressive guest guitar solo from Daniel Benavides which adds yet another texture to the already impressively stacked sound.
Ghost Dust may only be three songs in its entirety. But it covers more musical ground than most bands could in a double album and shows more creative diversity than most of the regurgitated output that plagues the black metal scene as of late. Hopefully this is the start of something great and we can look forward to a full-length album from ALL LIFE DIES sooner rather than later.
Rating: 8/10
Ghost Dust is out now via self-release.
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