The Ghost Inside
Returners

THE REVIEW

I saw them live, and I liked them (Never Say Die Tour 2009, the guitarist is definitely a funny guy). I listened to one of their albums, "Fury And The Fallen Ones," from 2008, and I liked them, let's say I quite liked them. I listened to a new track on their myspace, namely "Between The Lines," while waiting for a new album, and my mouth definitely watered. "What riffs, what melodies, what production!" I thought, imagining perhaps I was facing THE hardcore album of 2010.

Well, folks, I listened to the album in question and there's no doubt: "Returners" literally SUCKS. I mean, how can one write such a beautiful track like the aforementioned (listen to believe) and then end up recording an album like this? Bland, boring, uninspired: this is what I thought at the end of the listening, and there’s no reason why I should change my mind in the future. Songs almost all in the same key, same structures, same riffs, ("Chrono" and "Between The Lines"), the same old ideas without a shred of creativity compared to the rest of the hardcore/metal scene besides a massive production and the usual "special guests" of the moment (do you remember the miserable second album by Soulfly? The feeling is the same... all smoke and no fire), among which the only decent one is the singer of the semi-unknown Betrayal who represents the cherry on top of the masterpiece track "Between The Lines". And if one swallow doesn’t make a spring, one exceptional song in an album of absolute mediocrity doesn’t justify a prolonged listen, let alone a purchase.

Where will we end up if a band as renowned as The Ghost Inside (they recently played together with the very Italian Awaken Demons and were introduced by their singer as "one of the all-time favorite bands"... can you believe it?) doesn't even last long enough to release 3 albums? It's hard to admit, but we're absolutely not there.