Seeds of Destruction

“…he awakens to their roaring laughter…”

Springing for a mostly color j-card for their debut demo is Atlanta, Georgia’s Ghost Story. Even though it never predicted what lay on the tape, it always meant said band put some thought (and dough) into their labor of love. Luckily, the four-piece threw some mental money into Seeds of Destruction as well, and is one of the uncommon times the music and production’s as reflectively good as its cover.

At the starting line, thrash and speed are styles that stretch their quads near one another. When I got the tape in the mail I really had no other expectation. I could just sense it, and that it was gonna be good. “Seeds of Destruction” proved my yet unproven point, letting loose with speed fury just as the starter pistol blew a hole into some clouds, and the sweat’s all uphill from there. The chorus is a slower refueling station for the song, but bulges with power within its own core. Double bass rumbles every second verse, and then Chris Cauble summons this weird bass solo from out his ass…a genuinely strong song that hasn’t been lost to me over the years.

Catchiness is an important hurdle the four-piece leap, and they make it look pretty easy. Basically, they go out of their way to ignite interest levels (is this a new concept? Nope, but over time boatloads of bands have somehow forgotten this is vital). “Anger of the Lynch Mob” dips into melodic guitar waters from time to time, sinewy elegance a main factor of the paradox, and at times could almost be a sped-up Arcane song. Strong and burly “Circle of Fear” owes much of its muscle to its chorus, meanwhile “The Enemy Within” is the most eclectic, softening up the groundwork intensity with brief gusts of electric acoustics. The production via Channel One Studios is superb and spot on (though I’m sure someone will find something wrong with it), filling many a cranny and nook.

Rob Thompson isn’t one of yer over the top thrash vocalists, owing some comradery (consciously or no) to Keith Deen’s more subtle strains in Holy Terror (think “The Immoral Wastelands”), some Blitz Ellsworth, and someone else I can’t quite put my finger on at this moment (hey, at least I’m honest). The rest of the band, lead guitarist Chris Baker and drummer Devin Denuyl, are as professional as they are tight.

It wasn’t difficult to see this band had its act together, and I’ve wondered from time to time why nothing became of them. Instead, they became their own ghost story.