Ghost Notes
There is something incredibly angelic and harmonious about the material coming from the minds of these five. Built upon an already existing friendship, Everest build on melodies and emotional harmonies with their debut release ‘Ghost Notes’.
The album is something of a wonder. The majority of the songs are incredibly tender, with the occasional thumping riff or beat that doesn’t overwhelm a more semi-acoustic song, but settles neatly beneath it. ‘Into Your Soft Heart’ seems a little hazy and no matter how much I increased the volume of the song, the same thing occurred. Whether this was meaningful, accidental or just something that happened to make the song stand out, it gave the track an old pub feel, something that warms with its keys treading in the foreground and backing guitar. Other songs are more powerful with the stronger guitar riffs. ‘Ghost Notes’ never overpowers a listener with too many musical sounds so that they become overwhelmed with noise from all directions.
The album, apparently recorded and mixed to analogue tape on classic vintage equipment seems a little old aged with the technical advancements in recording equipment, but sometimes adding your own touch, whether it's with equipment in the recording process or with the writing or musical aspects is always noted. However, the album does seem a little flat. Even on the albums most upbeat and prevailing tracks, there is something that holds the songs back. They don’t seem to be able to budge past the restraints of the CD and blast through the speakers. For quieter songs like ‘Angry Strom’ which relies on the gentler passion of the piano and acoustic guitar notes rather than powerful riffs and beats this is fairly acceptable. But for songs such as ‘Reloader’ that need a little more room to break free, they are unable to achieve much momentum.
This is an album of placid melodies and gentle harmonies that are able to achieve good results with semi-acoustic impacts that implant themselves in a listeners mind; the concluding track ‘Taking On The Future’ is probably the most noticeable for this effect. However, the upbeat natured songs need to have their restraints loosened and given more room to breathe. Otherwise this is a wonderful album to get wrapped up in.