There are things in life that one must respect despite personal tastes or political inclinations. A Death Metal band that covers Kiss’s “Love Gun” is truely one of them not just because the outstanding musical differences, but also due to the prejudice that the band has among Extreme Metal fans. Well, to be frank, not only among death metallers. Besides all that, it truely causes strange feelings to hear a gutural voice to sing “You pulled the trigger of my… Love gun!,” doesnt it? From where I’m standing, Death on Fire did the right thing with the song considering all the given situation. “Love Gun” sounds as if it were a Death on Fire song. Even the fan like me that knows the song pretty well will only recognize it when vocals start. Sort of. The despair the band put in it is remarkable. The song had a complete change of hearts. The right, and wise, choice, if you ask me. I say that because the undivised, or newcomer, fan won’t recognize it as a Kiss song. I remember having this feeling lots of times when I was a newcomer. I even had a discussion with a friend about a song that a dear band of mine convered and I didn’t know it was actually a cover from a very famous band. It happens all the time. A show of hands who’s never.
Besides the aforementioned cover, “Ghost Songs” shows lots of despair and fear in tracks as “The End Complete.” It’s nice the way Death on Fire mix the harsh and melodic moments in their songs. Even better and well-architected are the guitar works with sharp and precise interventions which mostly bring some more emotion and melody. If I were to fit “Ghost Songs” in a defined style, I’d say it is very near what early In Flames used to do. It’s a Melodic Death Metal for sure with all the bounces between the melodic and aggressive moments. The band really knew how to dose them in this album. Certainly, tracks as “People Like You” contributes a lot to this feeling. “Deafening Roar” and its intro does exactly the same. The sweet and delicate intro gives place to an insane and chaotic body. A destroyer track, if you ask me. Definetly the kind of album I like to hear on my own.
Death on Fire “Ghost Songs” will be released on March 20th.
