Review Summary: Lite Counterparts
I stumbled on Ghost Chant whilst I was washing the dishes and my kids were arguing over which episode of Bluey they wanted to watch. For some reason, I did not hit the repeat button on Spotify so when YNYA by Counterparts finished random songs came on. I did not realise this at first though, no, I was in a state of confusion. Why was bellovddd so confused? Was it because my kids decided to
not watch the Dance Mode Episode? Whilst that is quite concerning, I was more confused by the fact that I was hearing a Counterparts song I had never heard before! But I noticed something was a little bit off, something was a little bit more
pop.
Ghost Chant are a band I have known for approximately one month and judging from the little they have released so far; I am going to be keeping a very close eye on what is to come. On ‘Left To Drown’, Ghost Chant combine a Counterparts riff lovefest with pop-punk inspired lead and bass licks and an impressive vocal performance both unclean and clean.
The blending of pop punk and metalcore is not a new thing, yet Ghost Chant do it in a way that isn’t as cliché’ as bands like A Day To Remember used to. Its more subtle, with less of a reliance on huge pop-punk choruses but rather pop-punk inspired guitar and bass work. ‘Sleep Talk’ has some straight up ‘The Wonder Years’ licks thrown in and ‘No Future’ starts with a bassline that could have come straight out of some early Green Day or MxPx with an ending that could easily be mistaken as an outtake from Sum 41s ‘Chuck’.
Despite the obvious pop-punk influences, they still know how to throw it down and be
brootal with ‘Make a Home Of Me’ and ‘Bitter Shade of Grey‘ endings having some juicy breakdowns with the latter being the heaviest moment on the EP. These heavier moments do stand out and are impressive and amplified by using GOOD cleans and
brighter sounding licks then what you would usually find with you average Melodic Metalcore band (or whatever it’s called).
Ghost Chant are a band that I would never have known about if I wasn’t distracted whilst listening to Counterparts. It’s obvious why I was drawn to them, but I only kept listening because they change it up a bit, whilst they don’t redefine anything, it was a nice change of pace.
