PecksMetalPicks

FEATURED ALBUM
Great American Ghost // Tragedy of The Commons
Released: January 31, 2025

Great American Ghost is kicking 2025 off with a bang. This was definitely my favorite album from January.

I love how these guys have developed over the last few years. I found them in 2017, but they had a subtle Stray From The Path sound lurking under the surface that I didn’t care for. Their tone shifted a bit on their 2020 album, and they completely captured me with their 2022 EP. Since then, I’ve eagerly awaited a full length album and ‘Tragedy of The Commons’ delivered.

Not many bands sound like this. The yelling vocals are similar to Half Me, which makes it easy to follow and absorb the album’s message. There’s also a lot of vocal variety to compliment the heavier and softer moments. 

I suppose Great American Ghost is metallic hardcore mixed with metalcore, but they occupy the same space in my mind as Fit For An Autopsy. The similar industrial elements and lyrical topics also make it an apt comparison.

That being said, I rank this album far above most of what FFAA has done since 2017. There’s less filler and they absolutely nail the melodic moments. Great American Ghost’s softer moments feel organic while FFAA’s feel forced as they attempt to “expand” their sound and appeal to a wider audience. “Echoes of War” is a perfect example of Great American Ghost emulating the same singing style from Cattle Decapitation but doing it better than FFAA did.  “Ghost In Flesh” and “Writhe” showcase their other singing styles too.

“Kerosene” is a highlight, but the non-singles are also incredible. In this day and age, where bands often release five singles before dropping an album, having the non-singles hold their own was a huge surprise. “Chapel Paralysis” might be my favorite song, and “Reality//Relapse” is close behind.

The only song I didn’t care for was “Genocide.” The heavy industrial influences were kind of boring compared to everything else the album had to offer.

This is a huge win for Great American Ghost. Dipping into multiple heavy genres without being defined by one in particular is such a strength, especially while incorporating so many melodic aspects. This is the kind of band that could fit into any tour lineup, play a show, and walk away with new fans.

Playlist of New Songs

Quick playlist highlights: I’m going to start doing the playlists a little differently in the near future. Instead of making a new one each week, I’m going to have one single playlist that is continuously updated. I’ll keep the 100 most recently added songs on the playlist (so if I add 15 one week, that means the oldest 15 will be removed). This means that you won’t be able to go back and listen to a playlist from last year, which is a bummer, but I can’t have 50+ playlists crowding my Spotify anymore. Having random songs in all these playlists is also making it tough to tell which ones need to be on my “greatest heavy songs of all time” playlist that I’m still working on for you guys.

– Rivers of Nihil – House of Light. I am genuinely impressed with this song. I’ve been super tough on Rivers of Nihil in recent years because I think ‘The Work’ was terrible in comparison to ‘Where Owls Know My Name,’ which was my favorite album from 2018. Then, they lost their vocalist in 2022 and I wasn’t sold on their guitarist stepping up to scream. This song is giving me a lot of hope though. The atmosphere is similar to ‘Where Owls Know My Name’ and the clean singing is a nice touch.

– Synestia – Dies Irae. You should know about this band from the joint EP they did with Disembodied Tyrant last year. Super sick stuff. The vocal gymnastics are a little over the top, and I’d probably take Disembodied Tyrant over this, but it’s fun in small doses.

– Vicious Rain – The Devil & Lovers. This is a pretty cool Swiss band. This track sounds like a mix of some other well known bands, but I can’t put my finger on it right now. Maybe a hint of Secrets? The chorus really caught my attention.

– Imminence – Death Shall Have No Dominion. I didn’t think Imminence had it in them to be this heavy. Damn. Maybe reissuing their debut album reminded them that making heavy music is fun. The violin/symphonic elements are making me want to call this the metalcore version of Lorna Shore.

– Darko – Supra. The new album is great. The amount of music that these guys constantly pump out is ridiculous. They’re always evolving, but the acid-trip, technical insanity that makes Darko so special is still at the core of this album.

– Nasty – Iron Grip. I don’t feature a lot of beatdown/hardcore, but Nasty has been solid recently.

– The Crimson Armada – Ceremony. This release is labeled as an EP on Spotify, and the bundle of songs has an intro, but I’m hoping there’s more to come. This track features Levi Benton from Miss May I and is slightly more lowkey than the other songs The Crimson Armada has released recently. The guitars remind me a bit of early As I Lay Dying.

– Spiritbox – No Loss, No Love. I need to have an open mind. I need to have an open mind. I need to have an open mind. This song is good and the music video is very cool. It frustrates me that they are capable of making music like this and then spend half their time making whispery, alternative rock. A few heavy songs can’t carry my interest in an album. We’ll see how the whole thing fits together.

– Gutrectomy – Throne of Ashes. This might actually be a decent entry point for those who want to get into slam. Gutrectomy has a mix of genres so it’s not completely over the top. But yeah, still pretty wild.

– Tidebringer – Kage. Including these guys because their Spotify bio is “Make screamo pissed again.”

DRAMA – 2025 Grammy’s Mistake

An interviewer at the 2025 Grammy’s mistook Courtney LaPlante (vocalist of Spiritbox) for another artist named Poppy.

The full video is below, but the funniest part is that the interviewer starts by saying, “We’re here with rock royalty…Poppy,” and when Courtney did a double take, the interviewer doubles down and says, “No, you are, I mean you got nominated against Judas Priest [and] Metallica.”

And honestly, in an incredible showing of grace and mercy, instead of embarrassing the interviewer, Courtney responded, “Yep, I am Poppy, and I am really happy to be here – nominated with Knocked Loose. I really hope we win.”

Thirty seconds later, in response to another question, Courtney says, “It’s time for [a woman] to win, and I hope it’s [either] me or Spiritbox and Courtney.”

Unbelievably, the interview continues for three minutes and Courtney stays in character the whole time, even whipping out some Poppy lore (like talking about how she performed “Suffocate” with Knocked Loose on Jimmy Kimmel and accidentally swore during the song on live tv).

I may have mixed thoughts on Spiritbox’s music, but this was really cool to see, and I have a lot of respect for how Courtney handled this.