The Ghost Inside - ‘Searching For Solace’ review
The Ghost Inside by Markus Hauschild
After the fight that The Ghost Inside have fought to be back on our stages, I will never not be excited about a new TGI album. The group have shaken the scene up with each of their previous 5 albums as The Ghost Inside. None achieved it quite like their Self Titled release in 2020. The group have been back on the scene for 4 going on 5 years, and their latest album Searching for Solace dropped last week. Here's what we thought:
The album opens with ‘Going Under’, signalled with the iconic scream of Jonathan Vigil and a tidal wave of a riff. This is peak TGI fare and a relentless way to kick things off, setting the tone for what's to come. The Ghost Inside have always dripped with energy in live shows. You can very much expect the breakdowns and chaos of this track to continue that trend.
'Death Grip' is a foreboding continuation of that form, feeling like the follow-up of a brutal one-two punch. The way Davis & Johnson's guitars oscillate between breakdown and harmony is the perfect blend of TGI's history. It's not all rage, but listening to this makes imagining Vigil in your face screaming the words a very easy job. 'Light Years' by comparison feels like dust settling from the first two tracks. One thing this does very well is stands as one of those songs that shows unity at the very core of the band and fittingly, drums from Andrew Tkaczyk do the bulk of the carrying in this track. The visible love between the band since their comeback has shone through a lot, and melodic tracks like this do so much to show that on a record.
‘Secret' continues the chugs, but shows a lot more versatility from Vigil. The lighter vocal style may divide fans with how the track opens, but it still has its fair share of his signature gravel. Fans of bands like Oceans Ate Alaska’s recent single will certainly be down with this kind of blend. It's one of the lighter tracks on the album outside of 'Cityscapes', if you can call any of them that.
Searching for Solace is a wave to ride, 'Split', which only dropped a month ago as a single, is that wave picking back up. It's clear that TGI have found a lot of fondness for either isolated or gang vocals. 'Split' is a track that does that very well before a huge breakdown in the latter half. 'Wash it Away' shared single status with 'Death Grip' and 'Earn It', and did its best to divide a few fans, I am very much a fan of it. Irrespective of whether fans liked it or not, it was definitely the single that lasted the longest in memory. It was a welcome listen when it appeared, and shows a lot of maturity and progression and that's never a bad thing.
'Cityscapes' starts off a lot softer than the bulk of the album. TGI have clearly taken the time to experiment with some ideas in the 4 years since their previous album. The tone of the track compliments the band’s previous work hopefully 'Cityscapes' makes its way into the set for future tours.
The aforementioned 'Earn It' was the first single all the way back in last July. This is the track that will satiate the fans of the more traditional, hardcore TGI. There aren't quite as many bands that drive the point home with intensity quite like The Ghost Inside. The group's recent form on UK shows has them in Academy venues, it's hard not to see them sold out with a sound like this.
They round the album out with 3 more tracks, the first of them, 'Wrath', feels like everything is coming to a head. Expect this to be part of their big finish live. Foreboding opening aside, it's just so in your face and raw. It's one particular lyric that stood out with this track. "I'll embrace the pain, so you should brace for war". In particular, the way that the roar of that last word rings out shows TGI are badass and they know they are bad. ass. 'Reckoning' is one of the few songs that feels like it suffered on the album. 'Reckoning' is a good track, but by comparison, it’s a very classic TGI sound. It still has an extremely good mix, keeping the flow of the album in check. But ' Wrath' is such a strong track and not much could follow or better it. These might have benefitted from being the other way around. 'Breathless' had the equally huge task of following both tracks as well as finishing off the album. What it does is really tie together that classic The Ghost Inside with the new, melodic type or sound on Searching for Solace. It's a fitting end to an album that balances evolution with tradition. Its final vocals ring out and it feels like 5 individuals have really put their all into something.
The Ghost Inside never needed to make a comeback, nor was there a necessity to release their self-titled album or Searching For Solace. Yet, they chose to, driven purely by a deep passion for music. After everything they've been through, it's evident that this passion is the driving force behind their work. Since their return in 2019, their live performances have radiated this love, and Searching For Solace, undeniably captures the same essence. While we hold their classic tracks dear, their new material benefits immensely from this renewed sense of purpose, making it all the more compelling.
Searching For Solace from The Ghost Inside is out now via Epitaph Records and is available on all good streaming platforms.
