This is Ghastly’s third record and the years of experience that went into it show every record has pushed boundaries more and more and leaned into an increasingly unique, personal sound. Fundamentally, the class and melody rely on the demented aggression that is the undercurrent of every song to have something to bounce off, and the ferocious drumming and vocals keep even the most sensitive sections grounded. Though a great amount of the focus is on sections that are less traditionally death metal, Mercurial Passages is by no means anything else.
Dual leads and other sections without effective “death metal” rhythm guitar help seal the deal of a record that’s almost psychedelic in how stretched out and mesmerizing it can be. One of the cooler techniques that Ghastly regularly uses to great effect are sections of simpler backing rhythm guitars with catchy, memorable lead melodies over the top these are difficult to pull off but the reward is immense, and the sense of class that they impart is an important part of the record. The way each song twists and turns is fascinating, a veritable masterclass of unpredictability, and even when songs move through more predictable sections through a crescendo of rage or into a more mellow melodic one the actual choices of guitarwork are always fascinating. Otherworldly melodies or even passages of clean, ghostly reverb guitar melodies will sit in the same song a pounding section of aggressive traditional death, all held together by superior songwriting rather than by tricks of momentum or force that lesser bands rely on to make disparate elements work together. A particular focus of Ghastly is dynamics.
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