Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Spirit Adrift - Ghost at the Gallows (2023)

Despite drifting away from much of the content that is celebrated by The Guardian clan here on Metal Academy, I do still venture into some good ol’ fashioned heavy metal every now and again when something catches my ear (literally, as I currently only have one functioning ear). Spirit Adrift are a band who are therefore not new to me. I do not recall ever sitting down with a full release of theirs to date, but I have become reasonably enamored with parts of their latest offering.

Ghost of the Gallows is the only heavy metal album I have heard this year. By proxy it is probably the best heavy metal album of 2023 for me I suppose. That accolade carries more evidence than just this being my only venture out with the genre this year. It is an album that is well performed, solidly written, and professionally executed. Nobody is fucking around on the eight tracks on display here. They are all enriched with lush melodies, sullen doom metal tendencies and a kind of grungy vocal style that when combined with the guitar tone of choice reminds me of a much more trad metal version of (modern) Alice in Chains. The lead melodies on the title (and closing) track have some Cantrell-like moodiness to them for example.

The anthems almost form an orderly queue here on this, Spirit Adrift’s fifth full-length offering. Catchy riffs and hooks spill forth aplenty from the beginning proper of Give Her to the River. Couple them with the equally instantaneous and memorable vocals and you have a winning formula for Ghost of the Gallows sticking around in your head for hours on end. Variety comes in various forms. Pace, tempo, structure, melody, and technical prowess. Tom Hardy is a fucking beast of a guitarist. His blooping and looping leads are one of the outstanding takeaways from the record. Possessing a near progressive edge to the work on the six strings, the opening to Barn Burner is a frenzied foray that brings instant variation from the tone set by the lengthier opening track.

There is a sense of completeness to Ghost of the Gallows (although you must work to hear the bass). It is a tight and cohesive element to the sound overall and the band have come together quickly given this is Hardy’s and drummer Mike Arellano’s first album with the band. The combination obviously works as had I not checked the history here, I would have assumed that the line up had been together for some time already.

Not all the tracks are top-notch (These Two Hands and Siren of the South are both expendable for me) and I do like to have a tad more prominence to the bass on my metal records but overall, these are minor quibbles. I find it heartening that I can still find albums such as this one to remind me that all is not lost for me with the genre that I grew up with. These moments of enjoyment may be few and far between, but Ghost of the Gallows is most certainly worth the wait.