Debrecen, Hungary.
CD Inverse Records 67 mins
Experimental progressive rock
https://www.facebook.com/ghosttoastband
Rating 90/100
Debrecen is the second-largest city in Hungary and was previously labelled ‘the Calvinist Rome’ due to a religious imbalance compared to the rest of the Magyar nation. For purveyors of ‘Progressive Rock’ though, there is certainly no imbalance from the city’s musical perspective due to the presence of ‘Ghost Toast’. An unbelievably talented band of musicians who have developed their own brand of powerfully imaginative modern rock music. Formed in 2008 ‘Ghost Toast’ are in the main is an instrumental, experimental progressive rock band with a penchant for well-structured atmospheric music that has a distinctly hypnotic edge.
The main element of their output, and one that initially grabs your attention, is the rhythmical and well-ordered sequence of heavy riffing. This aspect acts as a foundation for the melodic and more sensitive musical characteristics of the score to take root and subsequently blossom forth. A joy to behold is the energetic and incredibly powerful drumming that really lifts and drives the music forward throughout its many different phases and complex changes of pace.
Cleverly buried within the thick of this fast-moving and complex output is a myriad of different audio projections and brilliant tuneful excursions which reveal themselves after several plays. Injections too of what could be imagined to be snippets of Hungarian folk music played on what sounds to be a bouzouki styled stringed instrument and in the process adding a wonderfully local flavouring. Also, adding to the overall impact, grafts of male choral vocal delights truly bolster the quality of the music to piquant levels.
More interest is entwined into the mix with a selection of well-chosen film soundtracks that intensify the dramatic feel of the music and create what is a truly mesmerising album.
Ghost Toast line-up:
János Stefán (bass, sound fx, programming, acoustic guitar, keyboards)
Bence Rózsavölgyi (guitars)
Zoltán Cserős (drums, drum programming)
János Pusker (cello, keyboards)
Ghost Toast’s music is influenced by bands like Tool, Orbital, Shpongle, Ulver, Ott, Jaga Jazzist, Plaid, Future Sound Of London, Mastodon, Pure Reason Revolution, Crippled Black Phoenix, The Mars Volta, A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails, Russian Circles, 65daysofstatic God Is an Astronaut, Isten Háta Mögött, various film score composers, etc.
