Ghost Machinery – Haunting Remains Review

Originally written by Erik Thomas

We interrupt your high quality metal reviews to bring you this 63 minute opus of bland Finnish power metal. I had moderate hopes for this after label mates Unchained’s superb effort, but Ghost Machinery are simply a stock standard power metal band complete with all the fixin’s. Most metal aficionados may bath on the glory of the gaudy guitarwork and eloquently over the top symphonic textures, but even for a Finnish band, this effort is surprisingly stagnant.

Sure, all of the power metal elements are present in glorious spades and will no doubt please those of you that live in your parent’s basement and have giant door posters of Iced Earth, but even for power metal, this doesn’t reach the heights of Sonata Arctica, Rhapsody or even guitarist/vocalist Pete Ahone’s other power metal project, Burning Point. Pete lured Wildcard drummer Tapsa Pelkonen and bassist Jussi Ontero into joining him and viola! Power metal!

Of course there’s a lavish production and lots of synth arrangements to back the ample guitar flourishes, but nothing really reaches out of the CD and grabs you by the mullet and shakes you into the real world. It’s all so run of the mill and by the numbers like Ahonen and co were sleepwalking through the writing/recording process, which no doubt highlights the talent, but the outcome is far from special. Ahonen is surprisingly flat and bland as a power metal vocalist, staying safely in mid range tones, rather than generating any form of pounding and albeit cat scaring, fist raising excitement.

None of the tracks really develop a typical urgent pace; rather the album stays on a more Prog rock, safe gait, but without the artistry and adventurous musicianship. Even when upping the ante a little such as “Evil Within Us”, or “Heaven of Hell”, it seems lethargic and unenergetic. The albums more frequent gait of “World of Unbelievers”, “Temples of Gold”, and “Darkest Hour” all seem to have a rudimentary mid paced aura to them rather than highlight the band members more overt skills. It’s like a shy or introverted power metal album that timidly opens up once in a while.

Even with a guest appearance from Sentenced vocalist Villie Laihiala for a cover of Gary Moore’s “Out in The Fields”, the album is pretty faceless and for a Finnish album surprisingly uncharismatic.

Posted by Old Guard

The retired elite of LastRites/MetalReview.

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