Noxious Concoctions

Ghoul have been extremely quiet for an extremely long time, and this year's 18 minute EP wasn't the scale of return we were hoping for. Nonetheless, new Ghoul is never a bad thing, and Noxious Concoctions shows that the flame has not burned out yet for Creepsylvania's primary nasties. The title track proves that with a nice line in vaguely blackened extremity of the sort that Witchery once made their own, the trademark multi vocals pulling the primarily fast track in different directions despite only minor changes in riffing early on. However, it's during the bridge and solo that Ghoul show why they have been at the head of the pack at times in their career. Their knack for keeping tracks tight and heading in unexpected directions continues to stand out.

The other cuts give a good overview of where these guys have been in the past. 'The Eyes of the Witch' tries to pack everything in at first, even if the opening minute or so of this 8 minute monster is all sample, progressing onto a specific jangly riff that trades off with more typical thrashy sections and eventually signing its name as a more elaborate and even progressive effort than expected. 'Shotgun Gulch' especially entertains with some creepy high-pitched chords in the breakdown, while the main frame of the song has more crossover feel than anything I can remember in the last few efforts. It also contains the kind of weird humour and slick comic timing that marks Ghoul out from the more serious death metal bands you may hear them mentioned alongside. On that note, seeing a cover of Funerot's '1-900-Dth-Line' at the end of the release shouldn't be much surprise, though it interests me that Ghoul are essentially paying homage to a peer rather than an influence, seeing as the bands become active around the same time and play a similar style. It's a brief nugget, and perfect to sign off this release.

If this were the precursor to a full album, I would feel very optimistic about where Ghoul stand at the moment, but given that it's the first sign of life in several years, I'm not hopeful about this signalling good form for more music. Still, it's a timely reminder that these guys at their best are worth waiting for.