SPIRIT ADRIFT
“Ghost At The Gallows”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

9/10

Spirit Adrift are a heavy metal band from the USA founded in 2015 by multi instrumentalist Nate Garrett. Initially formed as a solo project, Spirit Adrift has slowly evolved into a band – the current line-up consisting of drummer Mike Arellano (Disfigured, M.O.D.) and guitarist Tom Draper (Pounder, ex Carcass), alongside founder Garrett (bass, guitars, percussion and vocals).

The band have released five albums to date – ‘Chained To Oblivion’ (2016), ‘Curse Of Conception’ (2017), ‘Divided By Darkness’ (2019), ‘Enlightened In Eternity’ (2020), and most recently, ‘Ghost At The Gallows’ (2023) featuring eight songs across a forty five minute run time. And while predominantly a heavy metal album, ‘Ghost At The Gallows’ also features a little doom metal among its sonic arsenal! Album opener ‘Give Her To The River’, chimes in at seven and a half minutes in length, and features an atmospheric intro the like of which Iron Maiden are superb at – Sprit Adrift building the tension with a heavier crescendo that leads into the meat of the song. The meat being a boisterous barrage of fast paced heavy metal with a mighty hustle and bustle nature. And an incredibly melodious intent sewn in too – the band marching on with the mid tempo galloper ‘Barn Burner’. A much heavier ambience descends upon the album here too, strains of icons Black Sabbath rising high in the air. But more melodious than ‘Sabbath ever were, Spirit Adrift hitting hard with mild levels of menace and fear.

That said, the band are not a melancholic band – hell no! There’s an air of happy within the opening two songs that oozes attraction in abundance, ‘Ghost At The Gallows’ moving on at pace with the blistering ‘Hanged Mans Revenge’, a raucous rock ‘n’ roll attitude mixed with punk leanings similar to early Motorhead. Now I know I’ve just compared the bands music to three legendary British bands, but these bands were instrumental in forming the sound of heavy metal – a sound that even after forty years is still influencing new bands today! Even if that band is based over four and a half thousand miles away from the UK – Spirit Adrift hailing from Texas (USA). With a mellow lead in, ‘These Two Hands’ is more serene than anything heard so far, the serenity strolling forth with a bold ballad-like nature, every listener swaying gently from side to side. Is ‘These Two Hands’ a ballad? Maybe! I just feel there’s too much else going on here – especially after three minutes when a doom laden riff hits like a wrecking ball in full flight! The whole ambience changes to a crushing crescendo that’ll rip your fucking face off, the band shuddering the ground as they stride on. The sound of melodic heavy metal with an intense groove ignites the atmosphere with an almighty thunder stomp, courtesy of the heavy hitting ‘Death Won’t Stop Me’ – shaking buildings and crumbling walls with immense force. The metal on offer has been varied, attracting a very wide audience from every corner of the heavy metal genre, Spirit Adrift standing tall and very proud.

And with more oomph and energy than any other song on offer, ‘I Shall Return’ bounces into sight with a massive head nod to the legend that is Ozzy Osbourne, and more specifically ‘Crazy Train’ (off 1980’s ‘Blizzard Of Ozz’). Or maybe ‘Bark At The Moon’ (off 1983’s ‘Bark At The Moon’). The more I listen to ‘I Shall Return’, the more I hear both Ozzy songs – but then the main riffs are very similar! Anyway, confusion aside, ‘I Shall Return’ is an immensely melodic march of infectious heavy metal, Spirit Adrift offering yet more variety to an ever growing fan base. A fan base that now includes me, ‘Ghost At The Gallows’ one of those “can’t stop listening to” albums. An album that thunders on with a mighty foot stomp courtesy of ‘Siren Of The South’, a mid to slow tempo of knuckle dragging heavy metal with a mild smell of doom floating through the air. And at (almost) eight minutes in length, the title song ‘Ghost At The Gallows’ is the longest song on offer, bringing the album to a close with a myriad of metal styles. From hard hitting groove to a foot stomping swagger, through doom laden passages to the anthemic, ‘Ghost At The Gallows’ (the song) features the widest array of metal styles on offer by any song.

Overall, a wide variety of metal to please an even wider audience, Spirit Adrift offer an infectious and enticing listening experience.

TRACKLIST

Give Her To The River
Barn Burner
Hanged Mans Revenge
These Two Hands
Death Won’t Stop Me
I Shall Return
Siren Of The South
Ghost At The Gallows

https://www.spiritadrift.com/
https://www.facebook.com/SpiritAdrift

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