GosT – Rites of Love and Reverence

I have always been quite fond of Dark Wave, Synth Wave, Electro, Minimal, EBM, Industrial etc. Luckily, it seems that nowadays a lot of extreme metal lovers also are into these genres. Especially Synth Wave is popular. Just look at the popularity of Perturbator, who just released the absolute smasher “Lustful Sacrements”, Carpenter Brut and ….you might have guessed it GosT.

I have been following GosT for quite some years now. Touring with Mayhem, Svart Crown and a lot of other metal bands this band has become quite popular with open minded metalheads around the globe. With releasing quite a few impressive albums it is more than justified to make a review of James Lollar‘s latest spawn “Rites of Love and Reverence” on this metal zine.

The music of GosT always has been quite an aggressive, crude mix of Dark/Synth Wave, Industrial, EBM and Gothic. “Possessor” (2018) showed that sole member James Lollar is quite capable of mixing terror with beautifully crafted dark, yet danceable tunes. The follow up album “Valediction” (2019) already showed some refinement, and now “Rites of Love and Reverence” proves to be GosT’‘s most refined and mature release to date, combining all the elements of its predecessors sounding like a concoction of Ministry (during “Twitch”), Skinny Puppy, Marily Manson and many more. It has a strong link with the eighties but manages to stay and sound modern and (un)fresh. It sometimes sounds like New Order on a bad trip playing with Gothic darkness: terrifying, soothing, haunting and dirty at the same time.

Opener “Bell, Book and Candle” is a justified opener, featuring Bitchcraft, and serves as an intro for the darkness to come and simply is a great interlude for the pounding and threatening “Bound by Horror”. “The Fear” sounds like an apocalyptic joyride while the dark guitars and beats presented on “A fleeting Whisper”, “Blessed Be” and “Embrace the Blade” brings you right back to the eighties. “We are the Crypt” sounds a little like Industrial legend Skinny Puppy while “November is Death” is simply an EBM/Industrial killer (and reminds me of pre-metal Ministry). This album ends with “Burning Thyme” and starts like a ballad while slowly transforming in a very danceable Depeche Mode-esque song.

As you can read I have put quite some musical references in this review. It might give you a glance of what kind of music GosT presents. But it doesn’t mean that GosT hasn’t developed a totally unique style. With its pounding (and at some moments very fast) beats, dark and heavy guitars aided by the superb voice of James Lollar (who can squeal like hell and also has really cool clean vocals) and great synth melodies, this album is an adventure into the unknown keeping you on the edge of your seat. “Rites of Love and Reverence” is a very enjoyable record with absolute top notch tracks showing that James Lollar is playing at the top of his game. I can’t wait seeing GosT live again. If you are into dark music and want to hear something else than Metal and like electronics: this album will simply blow you away. So give this album a go. And I will give this album a digital whirl…again ….again ……..and again.

Score: 8,3 / 10
Label: Century Media Records

Review Made By: Erik

Tracklist:
1. Bell, Book and Candle (feat. Bitchcraft) (2:11)
2. Bound by the Horror (4:56)
3. The Fear (4:06)
4. A Fleeting Whisper (4:56)
5. We are the Crypt (4:50)
6. Blessed Be (4:05)
7. November is Death (feat. Bitchcraft) (4:25)
8. Embrace the Blade (4:52)
9. Coven (4:24)
10. Burning Thyme (5:17)

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