Big Wreck, Ghosts

Big Wreck

Ghosts

Reviewed by: Lara Supan

This band is described by Wikipedia as Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Neo-Progressive, Post-Grunge, Rock. That doesn’t even scratch the surface of what Ghosts covers in thirteen songs.

Big Wreck has a splintered past, marred by a break up in 2002, followed by an eight year hiatus. Maybe that’s why this album is so schizophrenic with it’s sound, with each song sticking it’s toe into the water of another genre. However, there is always an element that’s uniquely metal about each song threading them all together. From grungy metal guitar to exclusively heavy metal power vocals, Big Wreck makes their mark on each genre they experiment with.

To give you an idea of the diversity on this album, the first song starts as heavy metal as they come with a distorted, grunge guitar lick. By the time you get to the fifth song, “Hey Mama”, you’ve got the bluegrass instrumentation of an acoustic guitar and what sounds like a banjo. Later in the album, track nine sounds like pure country, with a slide guitar and down-home back beat. Harmonies, quality vocals and lyrics are what make this album consistent, along with some pretty heavily shredded guitar solos sprinkled throughout. Chances are you’re going to like at least one of these songs, because they cover pretty much every major sound that’s popular these days.

Sometimes schizophrenia can work in your favor. This album, although absolutely disjointed in most elements, is quite an impressive feat for Big Wreck. They’re taking big chances, and will surely get big rewards for this prog-rock, bluegrass, country, heavy metal conglomeration of material. One thing is for sure- the band is back together in a big way, even if they can’t decide what they want to sound like!

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