Source: EP Artwork
‘ANTHEMIC ROCK’. Two words that can strike fear into anyones soul. This wasn’t always the case mind but in the past decade or so, those words anthemic rock have come to mean something very different. In the 90’s it was a sign of a good alt band coming through but then the Noughties came along and that all changed. It became linked to bands like Creed, Nickleback, Black Stone Cherry and other such music by bands that are in it for nothing but the money and the fame. Here we have Yesterday Becomes Tomorrow Today the new EP from the UK’s own This Years Ghost a band who go under the title of anthemic rock but at which end of the spectrum do they land.
‘Death Of A Gift’ opens up the EP with a riff reminiscent of The band Hell Is For Heroes before it opens up into quite an epic sounding track. It is quite an astonishing sound for a three piece and a riotous and confident call to arms. ‘December Sun’ carries us along the same lines. Big opening riff that opens up into hugely melodic verse and chorus and once again a big ol’ sound.
This Years Ghost are blessed with a hell of a lot of talent, that is easily noticeable from the outset here. The vocals of singer/guitarist Paul McKenzie are never anything short of impressive, he has a killer range and makes sure to show it off throughout the EP without ever showing off. Like with the music nothing is done for the hell of it, there is a reason for every note. Let’s not forget the rhythm section who are ridiculously tight. You can tell when listening to a recording what is fake and what is real, there are no drum triggers here, this is a very able band
As ‘Carry Us In Blue’ slips into ‘Silver Tongue’ you come to realise that maybe the band are playing it a little too safe if that makes sense. The band seem to have a design on how they write a song and although very good it does get a little same as before from time to time. To be honest though that seems to be the only criticism we can throw at this EP. It feels a little safe. That’s not to say it doesn’t sound huge. It just means it’s kind of like a great whisky. Sure it’s tasty, real tasty but if that is all you had to drink you would eventually grow board of it.
‘Black Dogs’ closes out the EP and is once again a great track, like everything here, it sounds amazing, the production, everything is top notch and if you are a fan anthemic rock then we highly recommend This Years Ghost. They land on the right side of that spectrum we mentioned at the start of this review. Good job gents, it will be interesting to see how they evolve in the future.
