Formed back in 2008, This is Ghost Country take their influence from bands such as AC/DC, Fu Manchu, Melvins, Unsane, and ZZ Top to create what can only be described as sludge ridden and somewhat punky stoner rock. The vocals have a punk/hardcore edge to them, and to be honest are not very good, but with an album of this sort it's all about the riffs anyway, and this self-titled release has plenty of them. Whether it's the manic chug of "Ztupe/Red Area" the crushing doom/sludge of "Dumbfucker", or the Crazy Horse by way of Fu Manchu riffery of "The God Replacement", there enough brooding guitar thunder here to even make the poor guy on the cover of the CD happy. "Tekken" starts out as an almost Southern Rock styled piece before the heavy riffs come crashing into the mix, but the brief "Big Fat Killing" once again sees the band dip back into punk ferocity, littered with expletives and noisy guitar riffs. The dirge like "Black Trekker" is one part Melvins and one part Lynyrd Skynyrd, while the 8-minute "Bootes" sees the band dial up their inner Neurosis or Sleep. While it has some massive riffs and pounding drums, perhaps a few minutes could have been shaved off this one.
I'm getting a feeling of 'been there, heard better' when listening to This is Ghost Country, and some of the vocals on a few tracks are completely lackluster, but there are some good, crushing riffs to be had here and a few of the songs do work quite well. If I were them, I'd stay clear of the punk stuff and concentrate on the doomy sludge/stoner style which they seem to do quite well. Not mandatory listening by any means but a CD to check out if you are in the mood for something of this nature.
Track Listing
1) Smooth Unfoo
2) Dumbfucker
3) Ztupe/Red Area
4) The God Replacement
5) Tekken
6) Big Fat Killing
7) Black Trekker
8) Bootes
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