Album Review: The Faceless - In Becoming A Ghost

As in, it is completely and utterly all over the place. It’s like an eruption in the green room at Jools Holland’s New Year Hootenanny and everyone who was left breathing started playing at the same time.

From the moment the eerie vocals of the title opening track kick in you know something isn’t quite right. It sounds like a voice-over from a bad Japanese video game from the early 00s. The villain with the spiky hair, eyepatch and shoulder pads type thing.

They are trying different attacks certainly. The flute solo on Digging The Grave is pretty out there.

But a lot of what happens around this explosive, blast beat melting pot misses some marks.

That intro for example, and the Ghost Reprise later, just can’t be taken seriously. The faux British accent is awful.

When they really let loose they perform a little more steadily. (Instru)mental Illness has some good moments tucked away in its jangling melodies, but even this is a little too stop start for its own good.

The Terminal Breath, too, has a lot of venom in its shocks that jar well for once with the heartbroken guitar screeches and both ferocious and softer vocal approaches.

And then there's the nice cover of Depeche Mode's Shake The Disease.

But these nice touches are few and far between.

We know this genre is meant to shake things up and provide something different and edgy. But there’s edgy and then there’s just a mess. Like a kid who started their colouring in with the best intentions but just couldn’t keep within the lines.

You just get lost, constantly feeling pulled along by an audible hook you don’t want to be attached too. It snaps back into motion just when you think you’ve time to pause and catch sense of it all.

We hate to be overly critical of a record, we like to give artists their dues for their work. But there is unfortunately too little here to make you come back for a second listen.

Rating: 3/10

The Faceless play Birmingham’s Mama Roux on Sunday, February 4.