Review: The Ghost Inside - Get What You Give

 As the avid supporter of modern metalcore and breakdowns in all sorts of shapes and sizes, first of all I separate myself from the more common sophisticated music reviewer but I also come to realise that so many bands have a thing for relentless chugging and desire to just create moshpits that the amount of similar bands does get a little tiresome. And moshing should not be about being tired, right? However, LA quintet The Ghost Inside have become favourite amongst the metalcore community for putting metalcore into their own creative hands. Third album Get What You Give sees the band release another solid collection of songs, albeit ones that are more likely to win the hearts of mainly moshpit merchants.

 With A Day to Remember frontman Jeremy McKinnon behind the production desk for this album, there are various moments across the album that you may look at before examining Get What You Give as the natural and more brutal follow-up ADTR's 2010 effort What Separates Me From You. This mainly spawn from the sheer amount of infectious melodies that the band also work within their selection of mosh-inducing metalcore tunes. The sheer size of the choruses in songs like Engine 45 and The Great Unknown are the kind that could only spawn from musicians that know the ways of both metal and pop punk music.

 But unlike the ADTR album that several original fans of the band haven't looked upon favourably, The Ghost Inside put much more focus on the metalcore elements that will make them big names amongst moshpit punters. Some of the thrashy guitar riffs and breakdowns from Aaron Brooks and Zach Johnston are delirious in their razor sharp shredding on Slipping Away and Thirty Three or the epic boost in bass during breakdowns in Outlive and Deceiver. Coated with a extra level of richness in the depth of these metallic based moments, a greater emotional output is emphasised giving the songs a higher scale of grandness and extremity.

 On the other hand, the increase of breakdowns and the higher amount of polish that McKinnon delivers on production serves as a sign of the band simply looking to expand on an audience at the risk of decreasing their unique creativity. A few more breakdowns and critics would be panning these bands as another one of the metalcore bunch that all make similar songs and have no uniqueness.

 But my love of headbanging means of course that I've developed a soft spot for breakdowns so in that respect, I'm not put off by this. Get What You Give is by all means a solid performance with scorching brutality and soaring melodies, but it's not going to give them the kind of celebration for originality that Architects, Bring Me the Horizon or Parkway Drive (or... maybe an American band) possess. But if you like metalcore filled with pounding breakdowns and big choruses, this is a must have. Now mosh.

The Ghost Inside's Get What You Give is out now via Epitaph.