Ghost Ship

Metal has always been a divisive art form, and that is probably its greatest appeal, the blunt honesty that it exudes that polarizes everyone, even within the confines of its own community. Although many will point to the sonic aggression factor as the primary reason for the mainstream either dismissing or otherwise only making occasional and very safe entries into said genre, it is arguable that the lyrical content is what tends to divide with such fervency. From the outside looking in, the controversy could be laid upon a number of common subjects being covered, including but not limited to the occult, fringe politics, or other forms of social critique that mirror or even amplify those made by earlier punk acts. But within the community, the most controversial subject and the one that tends to inspire the most self-inflicted derision is the idea of Christians taking up the art and using it to express their own positions lyrically. Looking at the scene itself in retrospect, pioneering acts like Black Sabbath were more ambivalent on the subject rather than either hostile or supportive, so a case could be made either way for said view having an early place in metal's history.

Apart from the common criticism of the ideology in question being incompatible with metal's supposed philosophy of freedom and non-conformity (which we all must conform to, ironically enough), Christian bands will tend to be labeled as unoriginal and overly derivative. This charge carries some degree of weight given that many Christian bands came into prominence a bit later than the pioneers of each respective sub-genre, though it speaks less to the work ethic of these bands and how good their material is and more to them lacking the proverbial dumb luck that comes with stumbling upon something entirely new. In the particular case of Theocracy, the originality factor is a bit less of an issue as they have tended to merge a number of differing influences in what could be dubbed a progressive fashion, though their overall stylistic direction is pretty safely within the realm of European inspired melodic power metal after the Helloween model, underscored by a particularly German speed metal meets a massive choral arrangement that one could liken to Narnia or Freedom Call on steroids. This is naturally only the tip of the iceberg, as their mode of musical dissemination of the gospel message comes with a heavy degree of nuance and intrigue.

Being the fourth in an ongoing series of semi-regular studio offerings, Ghost Ship is the album that establishes Theocracy as a veteran act, and qualitatively situates them as one of the most important bands in the power metal scene altogether. It takes the flash, flair, complexity and epic scope of the last three albums and distills them down into something that is equally as multifaceted, but more compact, digestible and even more potent. Regardless of how fast or slow, how bombastic or subdued, every single moment of this thing is infectious to the core, with hooks upon hooks flying at the listener from all directions. It was noted that this band's debut effort (when it was also a one-man project no less) contained a whopping 80 vocal tracks, but that seems a small number compared to what probably went into these songs as the vocal tracks alone are massive sounding enough to rival Handel's "Hallelujah Choir", not to mention that the instrumental parts share equal footing and prominence on each song, resulting in a towering colossus of majesty that is quite befitting the uplifting message contained within.

Perhaps the only thing more impressive than the grandiose character of these songs is how stylistically versatile they are, crossing some boundaries that have been crossed before, but in ways that defy expectation. Perhaps the most riveting of the sub-genre bending numbers on here is "The Wonder Of It All", which merges a Freedom Call meets Queen extravaganza of melodic pizzazz with a driving set of thrash sections heavily reminiscent of the most frenetic offerings of the late 80s San Francisco scene. A similarly heavy yet more grooving stomp at a slightly slower speed emerges in "Stir Of Embers", while the blazing throwback to the sound of the band's eponymous debut "Castaway" hits the afterburners with a full dose of Judas Priest oriented speed that falls just shy of breaking the sound barrier. On the other side of the equation, "Currency In A Bankrupt World" merges a few lighter rock tinges with an otherwise brilliant nod to late 80s Queensryche, while "Around The World And Back" begins sounding almost like a Christmas carol before merging together a charming hard rock aesthetic with some Stratovarius elements.

While the musical elements in themselves are enough to make this a certified new classic, this album also proves to be no slouch at all in getting its point across lyrically. Though every song delivers a poignant message that should take most aback, the fast paced and tuneful "Paper Tiger" stands as one of the more effective rebukes of contemporary America culture ever heard, particularly jabbing at the glorification of self-victimization and political pandering via mass media. The title song "Ghost Ship" and the slower paced anthem "Wishing Well" deliver powerful chorus lines, yet one can't help but note how the former masterfully articulates its message of activism in the process, to speak nothing for how the latter showcases the apathy pervasive in today's world. But while each of these examples is a testament to a band that has all of their ducks lined up perfectly, the closing epic "Easter", which is essentially a more streamlined yet equally ambitious retread of the 22 minute title song off Mirror Of Souls, is this band's coup de grace for their entire career. This song cycles through a series of intricate sections while recounting the story of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection through the eyes of the disciples, both from a standpoint of doubt and faith, led along by the vocals of Matt Smith, who perfectly emulates the majestic quality of Freddy Mercury's work on "Bohemian Rhapsody".

The only real downside to an album like this is figuring out how to top it, but that is a problem that we can all leave to Matt Smith and it is stipulated that he will come up with a solution at some point in the next three to five years. In the meantime, there is a massive audience of power metal fans out there that need to hear this album, particularly those who like it melodic to the point of near absurdity. The message may prove to be a stumbling block for some, but when contemplating the sheer cinematic intensity of the music, it is not impossible for even the staunchest unbeliever to appreciate what has been accomplished here. The Flying Dutchman has been subjected to divine reclamation here for purposes of an evangelical crusade, and as Matt himself states on one of the choruses found on its deck, "So put your warpaint on, it‘s time to sound the fight song!"

Later submitted to (The Metal Observer) on March 7, 2017.

Power metal is, in general, created with the aim to make you feel good, hopeful or simply happy. Theocracy's new album, Ghost Ship, attends exactly this objective. This full-length is filled up with everything that makes the style so enduring through the years: good clean vocals, catchy melodies, choruses that make you suddenly start to sing and a solid and clean production that highlights the instrumentation without focusing on excessive orchestration or effects. And if you’re not into Christianity, don’t be scared, their lyrics are not so desperately christian, but yet they are still able to share their religious message.

Theocracy have managed to create an album that has a lots of qualities. The first of them is that Ghost Ship is a pretty dynamic album. There is some sort of heaviness in most of the songs that serves as a good balance for the more melodic choruses. Some tracks, like “The Wonder Of It All”, are quite fast, while others like “Wishing Well” are more down paced, but even those ballad-like tracks still have some heavy moments so, as a whole, the album does not get really cheese or repetitive. The guitars play a fundamental role in Ghost Ship (as in any good power metal album): ranging from simple riffs to the more complex melodies and solos, they create the perfect atmosphere with lots of long and dynamic guitar lines.

The second great quality of Ghost Ship is the structure of the songs. Theocracy did a great job in composing tracks that create a lot of tension to finally culminate in amazing choruses. Add this to the spectacular vocal range of Matt Smith and the formula of Ghost Ship is complete. Smith stands out as versatile vocalist during the almost 55 minutes of the album. His tuned vocals make each track even more vibrant and energetic.

Nevertheless, there is a “not so good” moment that needs to be pinpointed: last track “Easter” could just be cutted up in the middle because after five minutes of intense guitar work and riffing the song turns into a full-ballad and simply serve as a terrible ending for the album. But, overall, Ghost Ship is a very good power metal album with great compositions and some really good melodies. If you are a fan of Angra, Blind Guardian, Symphony X and others, you will definitely enjoy this full-length.

Originally written for http://naturezadocaos.blogspot.com.br

Well, if you've ever wanted an album that makes Time I sound like an early Discharge 7", you've found it. I'm pretty sure Theocracy managed it without demanding a house and/or brand new studio from their label, which is pretty impressive, right.

It was perhaps a bit inevitable that Theocracy would come up with something like this. They were never exactly a minimalist deal, and a quick scan through their discog reveals it: the debut, a nice proggy take on early Blind Guardian, Mirror of Souls, a nice proggy take on mid era Blind Guardian, World Bleeds, a proggy take on excess era Blind Guardian, and finally this album, a take on every Blind Guardian song played at the same time. The next album's going to verge on harsh noise.

I'm a bit harsh, but only just. I'm reminded very much of a problem involving another band featuring a fairly high pitched singer- Sigur Ros. Now, SR, like Theocracy, were pretty boss back in the day when the vocals were these things that occasionally dropped by before heading out again while everything else did it's thing for 10 minutes. Now Sigur Ros is a nightmare of constant earnest falsettos and Coldplay-isms put through a distortion and/or a reverb pedal, and here's the same. Theocracy are more analogous than you think; long, riff filled guitar work outs with effective vocals, turned into a bad trip of half arsed riffs, shoehorned solos, and neverending big power metal vocals.

Vocals almost everywhere. Nowhere to let the riffs breathe, nowhere to let things establish an atmosphere. Matt Smith is a perfectly decent singer, but when he's everywhere his high pitched, sorta nasally voice is pretty intolerable. It's quite possible (even very likely) that straight forward, melodic power metal is just absolutely not my thing, I get that. But I'm not even sure if it's well done for the genre. I've listened to this album perhaps 6 times? and I still couldn't really sing a chorus back to you. Maybe the Call to Arms one, but that's just 'cos it's annoying as balls, a Hillsong-ish CALL TO REVOLUTION.

While I'm typing this I'm listening to the first Theocracy and contrasting it with Ghost Ship. You know, one thing that i've always thought is that increased budget, time etc in a studio is rarely a positive. Ghost Ship sounds like a million dollars, there's no doubt, but beyond the production sheen there's not much. No particularly interesting vocals, and absolutely zilch in the way of cool riffs, which was one of the real selling points of this band. Pretty disappointing really; just pretend that these guys split up after Mirror of Souls.

After 5 years, Theocracy returns with Ghost Ship.

First things first: they're still quite Christian. If you share their faith, these lyrics will speak to you powerfully. If you don't, treat them like any other fantasy-based lyrics. Because if you can't get over the lyrics, you'll be missing out on one of the most talented melodic metal bands out there.

And that brings us to the second item we need to talk about. I said “melodic metal” and not “progressive power metal,” which has been the genre since their first album 13 years ago. Ghost Ship could be considered progressive, due to the number of styles contained within (sometimes even within the same song, such as the album closer Easter). It definitely has its power metal moments, too. But they've also taken their sound and streamlined. The songs are shorter, more guitar-driven, and more aggressive. Shorter, yet it doesn't feel like it. The songs aren't missing anything. Lead singer and songwriter Matt Smith shows his improved skills by displaying concision - one of the harder things to master.

So let's talk about the songs. This is the first Theocracy album to not open with some sort of orchestration. Instead we get a drum fill and twin guitars take off, reminding one of Judas Priest or Iron Maiden. And Paper Tiger isn't the only song to throw off some old school vibes either. Stir the Embers is reminiscent of any number of hard rock bands from the 70s and 80s, without sounding like any one of them in particular. That's something Theocracy has always done well. You can clearly hear their influences, but they don't sound like any one band in particular.

Wishing Well, Around the World and Back, and Currency in a Bankrupt World all provide mid-tempo breaks in the musical assault, and all sound completely different from each other. Nobody will be rolling their eyes thinking “another ballad?” Only Around the World and Back could be called a ballad, and then only loosely, because it's the lightest of the tracks.

Finally, I want to highlight my favorites. Castaway is fast and heavy, with a melodic chorus. Classic Theocracy, in other words. A Call to Arms is excellent, but does sound very similar to Hammerfall - especially the opening riff. The Wonder of it All is thrash, and is their heaviest song since Laying the Demon to Rest. It's got a cool little riff that they play in several different keys throughout the song to make it sound different, while tying it together.

Bottom line? Excellent album. More focused than they've ever been. Lyrically, the themes are tied together very well. Musically, the songs are streamlined without being lacking. If you're a fan of melodic metal, I strongly recommend checking out Ghost Ship by Theocracy.