Monday, March 16, 2015

Not Your Grandaddy's Blues

The Midnight Ghost Train ~ Cold Was the Ground (2015)

The Midnight Ghost Train are back with their raw and super heavy blues rock concoction. Even though the guys call Kansas home, but I'd venture to say that the Mississippi River delta could just as easily serve as home from their sound. While they seem a bit more willing to explore different styles and sounds this time around, the heart of it all is still the same. Straight forward heavy riffs with a groovy blues flare that's always been part of their signature. Where they do explore and wander it feels seamless, like they've done it all along. I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same. The second track "Gladstone" was a favorite from the first spin, with a thick, hazy stoner rock influence that's undeniable from the first few notes. Wasting no time, it starts out high energy and aside from a couple well placed, short lulls over the course of those four minutes, it stays that way to the very end. That slightly twangy and completely pulverizing guitar playing is on grand display yet again, with the frontman having more control over your headbanging than you do with it. Backed up with a ground rumbling bass line, and those thunderous, hammering drum rhythms, it's a perfect storm of sound when everything comes together just so. The vocals keep their low, country growl firmly in place on top of the tracks, in the way all good blues songs do. We all knew going into this that "Buffalo" would be a hard act to top, and while I'm not sure "Cold Was the Ground" is necessarily better, it's easily on par with that one and not to be missed all the same. To make that easier, check out Napalm Record's Store with their nice vinyl selection including some gold and clear for this one, and a cd for the people who aren't into vinyl as much. 
~Skip
For Fans Of; Orange Goblin, Clutch, Black Sabbath
 

No comments:

Post a Comment