Ghost Horizon – The Erotics of Disgust

By now I do not believe that it is any secret that I jump at the chance of getting my hands on more or less any record with the tag ‘Black Metal’ attached to it. And the more and longer the prefix that comes before said tag, the happier a camper I am. So, it should come as no surprise (to myself least of all) that the second EP release from American Atmospheric Black Metal one-man band (a combination of words that I downright love) would find its way to my proverbial desk sooner or later. What was a surprise (to me most of all), was the content: Atmospheric, yes. As a matter of fact, it rides the wave of melancholy, both musically and lyrically (since the band as a whole focuses around themes of loss and the resulting pain and agony). Again, this does nothing more than draw me in even further. What really threw me, was the shape the musical aspects of the tracks – A very down-to-earth, melancholic and ballad-like approach. As a matter of fact, certain tracks such as ”So Hollow” comes dangerously close to Shoegaze in several aspects. But once more, this is only a good thing, in my book at least. Sure, I came into this experience expecting something more along the lines of either The Great Old Ones or Totalselfhatred, so I will admit to being very disappointed during the first spin. However, realizing that I was judging Ghost Horizon unfairly (by comparing them to vastly more well-established bands with a considerably different approach to their music), I re-shuffled my thoughts and expectations, and gave it another spin. And what a spin that was. The Erotics of Disgust consists of four tracks, all of them between four and five minutes and add up to seventeen-some minutes in total. All of them have an almost ballad-like approach in the way that they are written and performed, yet still retain several aspects of Black Metal, which really shines through in some occasions. On top of that, the four tracks build up momentum, becoming more assertive and powerful as you progress through the album until you reach ”Whispers”, the final track on the album; One which also sports a guest vocalist, one that adds another hint of aggression and depression to the track. As a matter of fact, ”Whispers” is without a doubt the single-most powerful track on the EP, and the one closest to the two bands that I mentioned before. However, as a whole, The Erotics of Disgust is a release that I personally see as having more relevance for fans of either Funeral Doom Metal or Shoegaze; Basically, fans of the more depressive, slow and melancholic genres. And that is even though it is still a Black Metal release at its core.

Recommended for fans of Trautonist, Sleepwalker and Sadness.

https://www.facebook.com/GhostHorizonOfficial/

https://ghosthorizon.bandcamp.com/album/the-erotics-of-disgust