Review:
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Ghosthill are a hugely talented young band from Kaliningrad
in western Russia. Their style is super speedy, mega mighty,
symphonic power metal, a mix of Holyhell, DragonForce and
Fairyland. Guitarists Val and Nick thrashing like a Tasmanian
devil, drummer John peddling faster than Chris Hoy and Ilia’s
keyboard solos sounding like Rick Wakeman at 78rpm (ask
your granddad). However they vary the tempo and dynamics
enormously, so you get a burst of speed and then they ease
on down, which gives the rather lovely Mira space to operate.
She has an outstanding and very powerful voice packed with
attitude, for some strange reason she reminds me of a young
Shirley Bassey, Mira would certainly make mincemeat out
of a James Bond theme. I sent Ravenheart Dave a speedy metal
track to listen to, he said there was too much going on,
which made me realise just how much I’ve got used to the
speed, 10 minutes worth of music rammed into 3 minutes,
it can be very disorientating for the uninitiated. Production
by the appropriately named Val Metal is excellent, the sound
rumbling rather than pounding, which, with the variations
in pace, avoids the drums getting tiresome, a major problem
with some power metal. Standouts include ‘The Last Dimension’
(live video on Female Voices Blog), the title track ‘Embrace
of a Chasm’, the brace of slightly more mid tempo numbers
‘The Mist’ and ‘Silent Night’, and the closing epic ‘Vigilant
Forest’. This will fill the chasm in any power metal fans
collection, and you can embrace a copy at their Myspace
http://www.myspace.com/ghosthillmetal , but hurry,
they’re going fast, 8.5 out of 10.
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