Ghostsmoker Premiere “Eternal Veil” Video; Grief EP Out This Week
Posted in Bootleg Theater on June 13th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Melbourne sludge extremists Ghostsmoker will release their Grief EP on June 14 through Goatsound Records and Gamla Grind Records. Earlier this month, they played the esteemed Doom in June fest at Melbourne’s Bandigo Hotel and in August they’ll be at the two-dayer Sun Burn Lite at The Gasometer Hotel alongside Dr. Colossus, Pod People and Motherslug, among others. Not band for a four-piece with just 2021’s Lockdown Sessions, since removed from Bandcamp, behind them. “Eternal Veil” (video premiering below) appeared on that two-song release, and it’s placed as a second single for the EP behind the lurching fuzz and harsh bite of “Astral Realm.” Do not be surprised to discover that there’s plenty of harsh bite in the EP version of “Eternal Veil” as well. That’s the idea.
I’m not sure if the band are purposefully anonymous or if I just suck at research, but Gamla Grind Records has put out albums from Blunt Shovel and Filth, so there could be some pedigree there, and “Eternal Veil” for sure doesn’t make Ghostsmoker sound like anybody’s first time at the dance. Amid the dark moving lights, shadowy corners and lumbering distortion, Ghostsmoker push air in the tradition of Australia’s own Whitehorse and cut through their thickened riffs and plod with harsh, high-register screams. That’s caused a few comparisons to black metal, including from the PR wire below, and fair enough if that’s what it comes from in terms of personal influence — I’m not about to tell anybody what they like — but from Bongzilla to Thou there’s plenty of throatrippy sludge metal for precedent, I guess going back to bands like Eyehategod and Negative Reaction who helped pioneer the sound. Still, Ghostsmoker do it particularly nasty and with a purposeful sense of impact. I haven’t heard the full EP yet, but it sounds like the time they spent getting their material hammered out and refined — such as it is — during covid lockdown(s) wasn’t misspent.
Having not heard the full four-song offering yet, I’ll decline to make generalizations about the whole release based on these two tracks, but on their own, “Eternal Veil” and “Astral Realm” herald a viciousness from which an outfit like Ghostsmoker might rarely offer escape. You want speculation? It’s probably heavy. There you go. Place your bets accordingly.
Hard to believe today, perhaps, but Friday will be here soon enough. Until then, “Eternal Veil” seems only too glad to run your ears through its paper shredder.
Enjoy:
Ghostsmoker, “Eternal Veil” video premiere
Total Blackened Stoner Doom from Melbourne, Australia.
Ghostsmoker is a Doom band from Melbourne and the 4 Track 12” EP “Grief” is coming out on Goatsound (in partnership with Gamla grind records) June 14th.
They play a blackened style of doom with some super thick distorted tones and a really cool way of maximizing the ambience some black metal manages to squeeze in without becoming some kind of ambient shoegazey stuff.
It’s like classic Doom, while perhaps losing some of the schlocky horror and falling well short of becoming indie doom complete with cardigans and art degrees.
It’s nasty and filthy but really well crafted and thought out, with killer guitar tones that build without you realizing and a vocal that is pummeling in all its blackened glory.
It’s grim it’s frostbitten, Its fucking total doom! Death to posers and all that shit.
Buy it here!
https://ghostsmokerau.bandcamp.com/
