Artists like Chelsea Wolfe and Lingua Ignota don’t strictly fall into the category of metal. In fact, their music is far from it many times, straying more into folk and operatic avant-garde poetry. But there is a plunge into the deepest recesses of human emotion within their music and an unabashed embrace of darkness as a fundamental part of them that welcomes them in to the arms and ears of metalheads and alternative culture participants the world over. The same can be said for artists like Pertubator and GosT, whose gothic synthwave has begun to make waves this year, more so than ever. GosT, (pronounced as ghost) the synthwave project from James Lollar, has been making the rounds on metal publications for its blend of horror and themes of gothic darkness and hard edged danceability. It’s dance music for those who love all things dark, and new album Rites of Love and Reverence should pique the ears of anyone who loves heavy music for its exploration into the forbidden fruit.
GosT’s last record, Valediction, was actually a direct combination of synthwave and straight up black metal, with songs definitely leaning hard in the latter direction. This time around, Lollar, moves back towards the horror themed aggro-danceclub vibe found of previous albums like Possessor. The production on Rites of Love and Reverence is also a welcome return to thunderous clarity. Every drum sounds huge and every soundscape is crystal clear, which makes listening even more enjoyable. There’s an overall witchy vibe throughout the record, as evidenced immediately by the arcana and spellbook tinged song titles and ritualistic album art. And it’s a lot of fun, though a bit repetitive and uneven at times. The record starts with a bang. Opener ‘Bell, Book, And Candle’ is a terrific mood setter, with magical chanting and a building tone that explodes into ‘Bound By The Horror,’ a pulsing, throbbing, explosion of noise backed with dub-y bass drum and clanging hammers. It has a video game esque main synth theme and the first introduction of Lollar’s gothic, moaning vocals. It would go off as a whole lot of fun at a vampire dance club, and the ‘Tubular Bells’ esque melody and screaming background choir end the song on a high note.
Unfortunately the rest of the first third of the record is the weakest portion. Though there are hints of industrial groups like KMFDM in songs like ‘The Fear’, especially in the vocals, a lot of these songs, though they very in texture and beat, like the pulse pounding start in ‘A Fleeting Whisper’, end up becoming a little too hypnotic and lost in their own repetitious construction without too much change. The stuttering bass drum effect does break up the tension a bit and serves as a major element of tracks to come, but things don’t start to pick up until ‘Blessed Be’, with its pipe organ opening and writhing melody. By the time the pace of the song slows and the pounding kick drums mix with the clanging of a church bell, it’s almost as if a switch has flipped for the rest of the record. Lollar’s vocals also mesh with this song incredibly well.
The last half of the record is a big step up. ‘November Is Death’ is a highlight. It’s percussive and seductive, and there’s a great use of vocal effects that disorient the listener, as if they’ve been poisoned and are in the bowels of the catacombs. It’s very danceable as well, and a whole lot of dark fun with it’s 80’s but modern sheen. ‘Embrace the Blade’ is full on super goth, with machine gun drums that sound pulled from those landmark industrial bands like Skinny Puppy. “Coven” is deep, dark, pulsing, and sweaty, and among the heaviest and most oppressive of the record in a good way, and ‘Burning Thyme’ is a surprising closer, with acoustic guitars opening underneath Lollar’s rasp. It’s orchestral and cinematic and would not sound out of place in the end credits of a movie like Robert Eggers’ ‘The Witch’. However, halfway through, the synth hits and there’s an awesome dancefloor shift with a haunting synth choral melody backing up the track that will make everyone wish it was Halloween already.
Though it’s a bottom loaded record that often becomes entangled in its repetitive elements, there’s a great fun to be had with this record, and it should be an exploratory choice for spooky season soundtracks for this year. GosT, like the aforementioned metal adjacent artists, has a welcome home here in the shadows, and does a good job blending the fun of dance music with the aggressive black heart of rock and metal so many love. And hey, metalheads sometimes gotta dance it out too, right?