Label : Ravenheart Music
Review by Tony Cannella
It is rare when a band releases a “retrospective” compilation after only releasing one album. It’s unheard of in fact. Well, that is what U.K. based Gothic metal band Apparition has done with “Ghosts of the Past: The Story So Far”. In all fairness Apparition released their debut album “Drowned in Questions” in 2006, and I am not sure if this album still available. So, “Ghosts of the Past…” is an album that allows new fans to get up to speed and entices older fans with previously unreleased material. Ever since Apparition’s inception they have had many line-up changes with bassist David Homer being the only original member. It is good to see that the band soldiers on after a few years of silence following their debut. The first of three unreleased songs, “The Dream Where I Cannot Go” opens the album. I loved this song and it is easily my favorite of the new songs. Sure it’s a melancholic sort of love song – or maybe it’s a song about longing for love – in any event the female vocalist and newest member Samantha Smallwood sings her heart out on this song and it just gave me chills, she is amazing. Next is the pure metal-ness of “I Don’t Know” from the band’s debut “Drowned in Questions”. Next up is another heavy one, the ‘demo’ version of “Elysium”. Since “Elysium” isn’t on their first album, I am assuming it was on an earlier demo? But I could be wrong. Still, this song absolutely kills, and it also features some male Goth-like vocals near the end (sorta like Peter Steele). Another unreleased track “Salvation” follows and it is another forlorn ballad-ish type song, that also has some heavy parts but maintains a mid-tempo pace throughout and the orchestration only enhances the song. Four songs from the debut are next and are followed by the final unreleased song “The Path to Eternity”. This is a 9-minute epic that tends to drag a bit, but it is still a really good song. The demo version of “Traitors Gate” and the piano version “The Dream Where I Cannot Go” brings “Ghosts of the Past…” to its conclusion, although I think I prefer the electric version of “The Dream Where I Cannot Go”, but this track is still buoyed by Samantha’s great vocals.. I always have a difficult time grading albums, and this one was harder than most since half of it was material that has already been released, I decided to give “Ghosts of the Past…” a 90 based on the new material. Since this album was released in 2010 and very little has been heard from the Apparition camp I certainly hope that Apparition still exists because the new music and line-up certainly should give their fans some optimism about where the band is headed musically.
Rating – 90/100
Tracklist
- The Dream Where I Cannot Go (Unreleased)
- I Don’t Know
- Elysium (Demo)
- Salvation (Unreleased)
- Frozen Roses
- Forever Guilty
- The Pain Lives On
- Defenders of the Faith
- The Path to Eternity (Unreleased)
- Traitors Gate (Demo)
- The Dream Where I Cannot Go (Piano Version)
Line Up
- Samantha Smallwood – Vocals
- Owen Hill – Guitar
- John Yates – Guitar
- David Homer – Bass
- Adam Challice – Keyoards
- Ian Bently – Keyboards
- Paul Collins – Drums
- Rob Swinnerton – Drums
Links