Tuesday 15 December 2009

Friday 11 September 2009

The Tribe video on Caroline TV, sept 2009

If Progressive Rock is a dirty word in your world then forget everything you know and take a listen to Ghost In Mirrors.

Expansive and dreamlike in a Sigur Ros kind of way – this music has an ebb and flow that is hypnotic and intoxicating.

Beautiful music that sounds like it's coming from another world

Ryder's Dismount review By Adam Richardson, Tuesday 8th September 2009

No-one could accuse anglo-french prog metallers Ghost in Mirrors of a lack of ambition on their self-released debut – there’s only one track under five minutes long and a couple well over seven. Daunting as such sprawling songs are, Ryder’s Dismount never threatens to try the patience.
The opening title track is an intense affair, with a sound that builds all the way, occasionally breaking into something approaching all-out thrash while vocalist French broods on mesmerizingly. “Deadbird”, which follows, is a much more full-on brand of metal with its moshalong chorus and obligatory face-melting shred solo. Undoubtedly the album’s best cut, “Across the Seas and Oceans” is art metal done very well with beautifully unhinged vocals that convulse over a stark arrangement that lurches slowly, irresistibly, into a thumper of a chorus. In this track the band seem to have successfully captured in audio the suspense and foreboding of a vintage horror movie. In length, closing track “Sterilised” is Ryder’s... slightest offering by some way, but brings the album to a satisfying denouement via its contrastingly accessible and upbeat sound and yet more stellar vocal work.

For a debut release, Ryder’s Dismount is an incredibly accomplished work, showing a rare ambition matched with evident songwriting talent. Ghost in Mirrors are a well-kept secret, and it’s a secret that needs telling.

http://www.glasswerk.co.uk/reviews/national/8521/Ghost+in+Morrors

Wednesday 2 September 2009

Top Of The Progs - The Courier Newspaper- 14/08/09 by Caroline Read

Tonbridge band Ghost In Mirrors set to play Local & Live in Tunbridge Wells
Friday, August 14, 2009, 12:00

Ghost In Mirrors


With this year's Local & Live festival looming nearer, organiser Paul Dunton has assembled a full line-up for each of the local music festival's three and a half days.
As ever, the bandstand on the Pantiles will be transformed into a music stage and a total of 50 local acts will perform across the August bank holiday weekend.



One of the bands set to play on the final day is Tonbridge-based Ghost In Mirrors.
An ambitious and media savvy four-piece who only formed last year, Ghost In Mirrors describe themselves as a prog rock band. It's an unusual choice of style for a young local band but the experimental sounds mix perfectly with the band's French singer's soaring vocals.
Led by France Amann with Tim Hall on drums, Luke Booth on bass and Phill Short providing lead guitar, the band also experiment with other instruments including glockenspiel and tambourine.
Having recently released their six-track studio album, Ryder's Dismount, and with a monthly residency at The Forum, it's an exciting time for the band. In June they were even chosen to play a 30-minute set on the main stage at Kent music festival Lounge On The Farm, which took place in July near Canterbury.
With influences including Kate Bush, Tool and Jeff Buckley as well as prog staples like Rush and Yes, their tastes are rather eclectic.
Go! caught up with them last week.
How did you get together?
Luke: "We formed the band at college (they studied music performance at West Kent College) as we were the only students who didn't want to follow the trend of the latest or most fashionable artist/band out there. We wanted to play and write the music we liked and not just what was popular."
You've described your music as prog rock – can you explain what that means and why you chose it as your sound?
France: "I suppose there is an eternal debate about what is prog and what isn't and if you are labelled as prog, does it actually tarnish the band?
"Radiohead for example refused to be called prog when actually they are but that was back in the early '90s, things have changed now. Maybe our stuff is more alternative, but we do have elements of prog, just by the fact that we are not interested in following the rules of what makes a 'hit' which gives us more freedom but as a result.
"Our songs are rarely less than seven minutes long and include long instrumental sections or epic solos, in that aspect I think it is prog. But modern prog has changed, compared to Rush, Yes and all of these… we don't sing about wizards and swords, fairies and middle earth anymore. And that's probably a good thing!"

France, you write the lyrics yourself. Can you tell us what inspires you?
"I suppose my life experiences. I left home when I was just 18 to live on the other side of France for two years, then I came to England in 2003 to study. Like many other people I went through ups and downs but I really struggled to tell people how I felt, so writing lyrics is my way to tell them."
Where did the name come from?
France: "I've always been fascinated and scared at the same time by ghosts. We all did that Ouija board game as kids, didn't we! But yeah, me, my brother and my cousin did it, and I swear the glass moved!
"I remember the feeling of being so excited but so scared and yes, in the attic we were in we had two mirrors, and I thought, 'what if I could see it?'. I never did though."
You played at Lounge On The Farm this year. What was it like?
France: "We were on stage on the Friday afternoon, it was sunny and the stage massive – with props, smoke machines, lasers, two on-stage engineers, two sound engineers, a stage director and all that!
"The crowd was very small before we started, but gradually during our set, their gathered up. It was a great satisfaction to see a decent crowd toward the end, because they had all the reasons in the world to go and see all the other stuff happening in the festival, but decided to stay and watch us!"
Is Go! right in thinking that you play each month at The Forum?
France: "Yes we host a night once a month called T.Wells LiveCall where we get local bands to come and join us for the night. Usually they are friends, but sometimes they are people looking for gigs locally who contacted us through myspace.
"The aim of it is to provide a platform for good local bands to play and the small profits go to a charity I support called Launatho. I have been twice to Africa this year and last year to bring medical supplies to local communities near Dakar in Senegal.
"The Forum is a great place, the guys who work there are very helpful, relaxed and good to work with."
Have you played Local & Live before and are you looking forward to it?
France: "Yes, I am really looking forward to it. I saw my boyfriend at the time play there two years in a row and I remember telling myself that when I had a band, I'd play there.
"As our band is quite heavy, I asked Paul Dunton if we could play at the Grey Lady one evening if we were doing acoustic versions of our tracks. We had to audition and he said yes. We hoped he'd ask us to play Local & Live after that and he did.
"I really like doing our songs acoustic, because people enjoy the melodic aspect more, as well as hearing the voices clearer."
By Caroline Read
August 31 at 9.10pm Free event Visit www.localandlive.org and see next week's Go! for more information The band are also playing on August 29 at LiveCall Festival at the Sussex Arms in Tunbridge Wells Visit them at http://www.ghostinmirrors.com/

link:
http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/music/Tonbridge-band-Ghost-Mirrors-set-play-Local-Live-Tunbridge-Wells/article-1242846-detail/article.html

Wednesday 8 July 2009

Tunbridge Wells Forum does Metal Special - Loudly and locally.18th March 2009

I have to say, it turned out to be a very good night after all. Not many people were at the forum, a couple of metalheads, ongoers, the usuals, but it just turned out to be a pretty well-balanced night. lots of thrashing, headbanging, falling down (a lot, in my case), and beer.

As we all gathered round the stage and walls, we were approached by the first band, Gokkun (apologies for linking to a myspace page but they don't have Last.fm), and I have to say, the first song blew me off, it was insanely hardcore. As I was telling everyone after and the day after they played,t hey reminded me of Throwdown mixed with a bit of Killswitch Engage, and a lot of hardcore influence like Lamb of God, Bleeding Through, ChaseMotive, etc. the list goes on. Nevertheless, it was insanely nut-grabbingly good, as you'll see by this picture.
As you can probably tell by the picture, it was harsh, the vocals were a lot of shouty shouty, and the screams were.....hardcore, basically. fucking heavy. I loved all the songs they played, even though my mate kept dragging me out for a fag and I kept moaning that I wanted to go back inside to her because they were really good. But it was really good, I loved the aggression, he jumped about on stage alot, which impressed me because not many people were inside the forum at this point.


Nevertheless, our local musical prog metal geniuses continued on the stage. France, the lead singer, announced Ghost In Mirrors and a lot of cheers were heard.
Now, I've seen these guys twice before, and watching these guys is pretty inspiring. I first saw them with Matt Furby at the Forum and they played an excellent show, so I knew what I was expecting, and I got what I expected. A set of intricate, beautifully constructed yet powerful prog with carefully constructed synths and solos everywhere.
Ghost in Mirrors, I can no doubt say, have an unbeaten streak of excellent live shows. The bass was tapping, the drums were double-beating at intense moments, and the guitar was beautifully singing to the audience. I have to give kudos to the guitarist though, he's so concentrated at his gigs, it's unbelievable, and he gets everything just right, even bending down to focus on timing and techniques.
Very interesting band, I can see they worked so hard to create and play their music. As part of the crowd, we were having the jam of our lives during smooth moments and rocking out during the heavy times. Loved it.

After they played, the stage cleared, and everyone silenced.
22 mars 2009 - Written By Sherman Leung.

http://www.lastfm.fr/user/gravitypoint/journal/2009/03/22/2l2ndz_tunbridge_wells_forum_does_metal_special_-_loudly_and_locally.

Tuesday 9 June 2009

Damsels Of Destruction Festival at Bridgehouse, London by Al Duncan

So back to London and the Bridgehouse 2 for Damsels of Destruction. Hell of a place to get to especially due to the lack of tubes running. Hi to Bob, Richard, both Chris's and everyone I met.
Winter Storm were first up and made the trip worthwhile on their own, great stuff guys. then it was Achilla and the day got better! Wonderful set and really got things rockin. Could it get better? Oh yes .. Apparition with the beautiful Sam in only her 2nd gig with the band( not that you would notice) made the trip from Scotland worthwhile on their own. special thanks to Sam for chatting and also for being there on Sunday.
Crimson Tears continued the upward trend, with a magical set that I thoroughly enjoyed and just as well cos it was them that I came to see! Fantastic stuff from Liz on vocals backed by the band in great style!..rock on! Triaxis were pretty good too, but by that time the early start and journey began to take its toll and I retired to my hotel early, so sorry to those I didn't see. £40 to get back to the hotel in a taxi ( I love London!)
On Sunday the tubes were even worse and it was a nightmare to get there and it seemed to show with the reduced number of fans at the venue, a great shame for Steve who put so much effort into the weekend.
A mention for a few band only here... Aceldama (ASELDARMA) opened ( well they were first after I got there) and to be honest it would have been worth my trip just to see them, I really enjoyed their set and bought a CD.
Psycho Baby were a welcome change from the heavy sounds of the weekend and a bright and refreshing band with some brilliant musicians and a stunning singer in Sally-Anne ( and not just her legs, she really has a great voice!)

Then a surprise....Ghost in Mirrors...... they turned out to be a revelation and made my weekend... I loved them...fantastic vocals from France and a really tight sound from the boys. Took a lot of pics and a video ( will post it soon) and had a blasyt.. thanks guys.. I see a great future for you.

Into the woods finished the weekend and were superbe, a great way to rock out the night and send me home smiling ( and deaf in my right ear!)
Spoke to Steve after the gig, he assures me there will be a repeat next June and I have pencilled it into my calendar.
Overall a great weekend despite the remote location and the poor London transport (God help London during the Olympics!) , the venue itself is pretty damn good and it really rocked all weekend and the fans were all friendly (as are all metal fans). this deserves to be a popular and regular event on the metal calendar.
Another £40 taxi ride later ( It cost more to cross London than it did to fly from Scotland!) and I was back at my hotel.
god I love these events...more please!
Al Duncan

Sunday 19 April 2009

Ghost In Mirrors @ BARFLY, 26th March 2009 By Adam Richardson. www.glasswerk.co.uk

The Barfly is impressively full for a Thursday night as openers Doll and the Kicks, of soon-to-support-Morrissey fame, impress with a strong set of exciting indie numbers with big choruses, they’re a promising package. Once the Kicks leave the stage the crowd gradually begins to diminish, though co-supports Spiked and Jukebox Vandals play enjoyable sets that justify their places on the bill, both full of bouncy punky numbers, inspiring some movement on the floor.

Headliners Ghost in Mirrors take the stage and immediately captivate courtesy of frontlady France’s brooding stage presence. With a metally sound that’s a departure from anything else we’ve heard tonight, Ghosts boast great atmospheric riffage and a heavy rhythm section, over which France soars with beautiful moody vocals. They finish with Across the Seas and Oceans, my personal favourite, and bringing to mind Bjork having jamming with the Deftones, it merits enthused headbanging from the now intimate crowd. Though the shrinking turnout was a disappointment, the headliners gave it everything in a high-energy performance and surely will be seen rocking bigger audiences at bigger venues before too long. For more information you can visit: http://www.ghostinmirrors.com

http://www.glasswerk.co.uk/reviews/london/7974/Ghost+In+Mirrors

By Adam Richardson, Wednesday 15th April 2009 05.13pm