NME have described GHXST as “a sleazy, female-fronted, New York City version of DZ Deathrays”, while Artrocker reckon they sound like “The class of No Wave being indoctrinated into a satanic cult run by A Place To Bury Strangers”. Neither are exactly on the money where their latest offering is concerned, but they do give a flavour of the kind of big, guitary racket GHXST produce here. And yes, it’s very big and very guitary.
It kicks off with a ball-busting, head-banging riff that grinds hard: ‘Slow Down’ bleeds into the gloriously dark nihilism of ‘Nowhere’ that drags a bluesy swagger beneath its overdriven squall. The guitars are pure demolition. The vocals are half submerged in reverb and sludge. More pulverizing riffology lands hard courtesy of the driving ‘No Luck’ which fizzes hard in a grungey mess of overdrive. Again, the guitars are thick with distortion and the crashing cymbals are enough to slice to the top off your head. ‘Galaxia’ provides a suitably blistering finale to the EP, a wall of sound that drones and heaves, a thumping amalgam of stoner rock, grunge and doomy psychedelia.
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So what exactly is it? Shoegaze doom? Doomgaze? Stonergazedelia? Who cares? It’s heavy and hypnotic, and most importantly, it’s bloody brilliant.
GHXST Online
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