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Ghostlimb

Bearing & Distance (2008)
Level Plane Records

Reviewer Rating:

Contributed by: Jesse
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on December 12th 2008

The question here, my friends, is just how much bleeding-throat screaming over extremely competent grindish-thrash metal can you take? I've got an appreciation for bands that play music loud, fast and distorted. That much is true. But there is a breaking point.

It's the same reason we all only listen to Reign in Blood instead of roating through Seasons of the Abyss and South of Heaven and Hell Awaits. The lack of a hook can be grating. And minute-long songs rarely have enough time to establish a solid hook.

I'm not saying that Ghostlimb has put out a bad record. Everything's there -- breakneck drums, shredding riffs and oppressively vocal cord-shredding vocals. But music and music appreciation is usually dependent on two things: memorization or anticipation. The best songs are instantly memorable, or allow the listener to anticipate the next movement of the song. It's how our brains are wired. I heard about it on NPR.

If you're like me, you'll thoroughly enjoy these 20 minutes of modern emotional thrash, and then likely never listen to the album again. But the strength of a good band is their ability to evolve; let's hope the next Ghostlimb has more of a groove.

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Thus_Spoke_Sean (December 15, 2008)

I like this record.

.......and Seasons In The Abyss doesn't have hooks? Seriously? While Reign is obviously the "most important" record, I think that Seasons is all around the best.

Xote (December 14, 2008)

They sound like a average Level Plane band. Which is better than most things but still I pretty much agree with the review.

franco (December 13, 2008)

Just checked out their myspace. I think it's actually more memorable than the review lets on. I was expecting something different, more along the lines of Ampere. Pretty good stuff

jesse (December 13, 2008)

I think the issue I had was that the band didn't really establish any of the three genres they were straddling - I would have liked it to either push further into grind, thrash, or hardcore.

A really good album, but I'm trying to adjust my scores more realistically - this would have been a seven with my old scoring system.

elephantdwarf (December 12, 2008)

i liked the first full-length well enough, but this one is better. i love that they keep it short and simple, and i think there is plenty of "hook" for what they are going for.

sugarfull (December 12, 2008)

it's an okay record, but I actually disliked the opposite about it. It didn't really reach out and grab me with anything, it sounded good, but like a lot of bands that are out these days. I was actually expecting this to get at least four stars on this site.

xIxKilledxJesusx (December 12, 2008)

i love this record.. jesse can have his opinion, and i find i dont like a lot of what he likes anyways

givemeamuseumandillfillit (December 12, 2008)

Score is for Facemelter

SilentStorms (December 12, 2008)

Score is for Ghostlimb.

SilentStorms (December 12, 2008)

Not a bad band, but I'll take Graf Orlock over these guys any day. Score is for Graf Orlock.

SlowStupidHungry (December 11, 2008)

"And minute-long songs rarely have enough time to establish a solid hook."

Dude you really need to listen to more hardcore.