(written by Islander)

We don’t know precisely why the relatively new Finnish band Concrete Ghosts chose their name, but they have left clues. They describe their mission as musically documenting the slow-motion erosion of the human mind and spirit within modern structures, capturing “the precise, horrific moment where the individual is hollowed out by the very environment they are forced to inhabit”, becoming shells of what they once were.

Their thematic landscape is thus a “concrete coffin” filled with “ashen whispers” and “nauseating chemical fumes of false hope”. As further described by their label Fetzner Death Records, they document “the parasitic nature of modern life”. They stand “in the center of this human-made horror” and from that perspective “translate the crushing weight of isolation into a balance of raw aggression and layered, melancholic atmosphere” through “a bleak, chromatic production that acts as a personal record of the world’s spirit failing in real-time”.

These descriptions are based on Concrete Ghost’s debut album Echoes of the Dead World, which Fetzner Death has set for release tomorrow (February 13th) — and which we are premiering in full below. Of course, we have our own impressions to share about the music, and another way of understanding the band’s name based on what we hear. Continue reading »