Hailing from Topeka, Kanas (although some of the band members can trace their roots back to Buffalo, New York) The Midnight Ghost Train (TMGT) are a 3 piece band currently comprised of Steve Moss (Vocals and Guitar), Brandon Burghart (Drums), and Mike Boyne (Bass). They have now released their third studio album, Cold Was The Ground.
Stylistically, TMGT are a hard rock band but take influences from delta blues and southern rock. Occasionally the thick, raw bass sound can force the songs to take a sludgier element. Fans of Clutch, Mayleene and the Sons of Disaster, Alabama Thunderpussy, Truckfighters and Baroness will find something to like here. Personally I love this album. It's deep, dirty and down-low rock that's force fed through your speakers with swagger and aggression. I would have perhaps liked the band to take the songs further, most of them tip off at the 5 minute mark, showing a move towards a more radio/single friendly length, as oppsosed to the longer tracks of their previous offerings.
The album opens with Along The Chasm/Gladstone. Along The Chasm is a fuzzed up, riff centric intro track, whose main riff has a thick delta blues vein. The track shows off the swagger and groove of TMGT from the get go and is a great way to introduce the album and the band. The intro track however, also acts as an intro to Gladstone with the two tracks bleeding into each other. I like this decision, it benefits the album by giving it some pace and would help the band live, where they are known for fast paced and intense shows. Gladstone was the single from this album. Once again the track is thick with chunky blues riffs and swagger. The vocal performance by Steve Moss takes the form of aggressive growls that rumble through the mix adding to the macho bravado of the music. I also believe that these two tracks pretty much sum up TMGT well; so if you aren't a fan by this point, I would advise you to move on. TMGT are not a band that sweep styles and genres, you will not find something for everyone here. If you like blues, if you like groove, if you like aggression and energy then TMGT are certainly the band for you.
The album continues with BC Trucker, which exhibits some interesting rolling drum work and Arvonia which features the sludgier end of the TMGT's bassline work before making it's way to One Last Shelter. This is a beefy, in your face, fast-paced instrumental that sticks to the sludgier end of the spectrum offered by Arvonia, while overlaying some more blues based picking and guitar work. Once again nothing here is particularly surprising, but it is certainly entertaining and well executed. I feel like this track picks the energy back up and it's from here that the album hurls you through the rest of the songs.
The feedback from One Last Shelter leads into the feedback that opens The Canfield, which is mostly a drum led track (although a guitar riff adds a memorable hook). The chorus opens up the guitar work a bit more and leaves the floor open to some big headbanging moments. But mostly this is a drum led groove that drips with the fun and swagger of southern rock. The album chugs along on the bluesy Straight To The North and the more fast-paced and somewhat thrashy No.227 before stopping off at The Little Sparrow.
The Little Sparrow is an interesting spoken word track that has a somewhat trippy quality played over a fanstasticly memorable walking bassline. It could be argued that it discusses the highs and lows of being an artist. The pressure of having music locked in you and trying to find a constructive way to communicate that. However, it is discussed in a rather dark, morose and striking way. The groans that play through the "chorus" of this song only add to the unnerving quality.
The album closes with Twin Souls, which opens with a thunderous drum section before cutting into some wailing blues riffs. The track has a crunchy groove that becomes infectious and really carries the song through the 1:30 mins of no vocals. Once again the vocals are on point with a higher pitched growl that to be honest is quite hard to explain, but man it cuts through everything so well, completing the stomp that this track offers. From the 3:22 mark this track rolls on and doesn't look back, ripping out solos and chugging bass before crashing into Mantis. There isn't much to be said about Mantis that hasn't already been said here. Another fine offering, on an album full of fine offerings.
In summation, this is a good album, there isn't much more to it. It's a no thrills approach to southern blues/rock/sludge, a band who play with passion and put their all into everything that they do. The charm of this honesty shines through in their recordings and while I may have liked a longer track here and there or perhaps more examples of the trippy side of TMGT, I can appreciate what these guys are doing and the quality that it is executed with. One thing is for sure, this release has helped to kick March off fantastically.
Article by Gary Lee (@Thewheelbear)
For more info and to keep up with everything we have to offer here at Musical Chairs, please like and support our Facebook page!
No comments:
Post a Comment