Ghost & Goblin

Album Title: SuperHorrorCastleLand
Record Label: Ghost & Goblin
Review by Mario R. Martin
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Ghost & Goblin - SuperHorrorCastleLandGhost & Goblin - SuperHorrorCastleLand

A movement has begun. The movement, fronted by kings and queens, has taken shape over the course of many years. The results have been shed across canvases, figurative and literal, around the world. The kings and queens, royalty if you will, have stood proudly atop castles attempting to strike the mediocrity from society. And in modern day America, mediocrity begins with music.

A vast and banal realm, the music industry has suffered overpopulation at the hands of the greedy. The kings and queens, after being forced underground have risen up again to clean the air in an act of contrition for the sonic landscape. Leading the charge is Ghost & Goblin, a New York duo lurking in the shadows. G&G could easily be pigeonholed into a genre, but immediately it would be wrong. Much like limiting space or a black hole, G&G create music that is similarly expansive.

Electronic in nature, Ghost & Goblin is comprised of members, Nicholas DiMichele (Keyboard, Guitar, Vocals) and Spencer Synwolt (Drums, Percussion, Samples). The two formed Ghost & Goblin in 2012 to critical acclaim following the break up of their first band, The Kobolds. Shortly after forming, the two gained exposure at SXSW and immediately began ironing out details for their debut record under the newly minted moniker. The result is an epic opus entitled SuperHorrorCastleLand.

Kings and queens? Of course. This time, music gets the royal treatment a la Ghost & Goblin. Unexpectedly, these New York kings churn out noise rock that is sensibly melodic. It’s sensibly dark. It’s sensibly ethereal. And much like more contradiction in life, it’s sensibly tongue in cheek as well. Again, electronic by nature, SuperHorrorCastleLand is a trip through Roxy Music influence, fed through a contemporary bravado. But there’s one thing SuperHorrorCastleLand is not. It is not like anything before it or after it. There’s a gentle quality to the darkest moments—because they’re real; they’re genuine. Ghost & Goblin have crafted something special. The truth lives in the sounds they make.

SuperHorrorCastleLand is a soundtrack for a self-imposed darkness, a refusal to succumb to mediocrity. The kings have freed their people with their song.

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