Here we have the debut EP from Australian act Watercolour Ghosts, who are comprised of Ben Mazzarol (drums), Grant Burns (guitar), Shannon Over (guitar), David Gee (bass), and Drew James Griffiths (vocals). If any of these names sound familiar, the members also belong to other bands such as Vespers Descent, Chaos Divine, Noctis, Ur Draugr, and Deadspace. Their brand of melancholy yet hard driving rock borrows bits of heavy metal, post rock, alternative, and a touch of prog, for a sound that is melodic, emotional, and at times pretty aggressive. "Like Animals" and "Breathe", the two songs that kick off the EP, sound like a head on collision between Katatonia and Anathema, complete with shimmering yet heavy riffs and soaring, hook laden vocal melodies, and "Collapse" does a great job of switching back and forth between the yearning, emotional passages and the more bombastic, riffy sections. Textured, post-rock styled guitar patterns permeate the dark yet lush "Despondent", a real good vehicle for Griffiths' solid vocals, and the band rock out on the upbeat "Solipsism", as the weaving guitars and intricate rhythms take center stage. A tender, acoustic version of "Like Animals" is also tacked on at the end to close things out, a nice swirling example of melancholy rock drenched with a touch of ominous Mellotron.
Plenty of promise shown here on Watercolour Ghosts' self-titled debut EP, and while my common critique of bands of this style is that the songs tend to be a bit similar to each other (and that partly is also the case here), these guys no doubt have a ton of talent both musically speaking & on the songwriting side, so once they add a little more dynamics to their material we could see a monster group in the making.
Track Listing
1) Like Animals
2) Breathe
3) Collapse
4) Despondent
5) Solipsism
6) Like Animals (Acoustic)
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