CONCERT REVIEW: Royal Thunder – Live at Wally’s Hampton Beach


On Thursday, July 20th, I was fortunate enough to be amongst many others in attendance at Wally’s in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, where Royal Thunder took the stage in support of their newest album Rebuilding the Mountain (Spinefarm Records). This was the first time I had seen a Royal Thunder performance since they toured for their previous record Wick in 2017. After some time away from touring, the Atlanta rock band soared back into our ears & hearts in a way that only Royal Thunder could. With an awe-inspiring spell of entertainment right on Hampton Beach that evening. As the lights dimmed and the house music dissolved to a halt, Josh, Mlny, and Evan sauntered onto the stage into view. The trio that gave us such fantastic records previously were reunited at last. The energy between the three bandmates before us seemed to resonate throughout the room like an unheard sound. It was hard to ignore the feeling of anticipation building, for the heart of Royal Thunder was whole again.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Greenbeard – Variant


Work on Greenbeard’s third album started four years ago, but numerous line up changes and the dreaded C word delayed things slightly. The wait is over as the Texan Stoner Rock groups third album, aptly titled Variant (Sailor Records/Kozmik Artifactz), is finally with us – it sees them mix fuzzy stoner rock with psychedelic, blues, soul and heavy metal influences.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Spiritbox – Eternal Blue


Let’s take a minute and talk about hype. We all have a vague notion of what it is, but how does one obtain it? Can it be harnessed long term or is it a matter of riding that wave while it’s marginally available? For instance, how did Job For A Cowboy use it to jump from MySpace unto Metal Blade? Beats me. Whatever the case may be, it appears abundantly clear that Spiritbox know how to tap into it and are doing so on Eternal Blue (Rise Records). But can Spiritbox carry this momentum all through an album? Continue reading


PODCAST: Episode 126: John Connolly of Sevendust on “Blood and Stone”


Ghost Cult’s Keefy caught up with John Connolly of Sevendust to chat about their new album, Blood and Stone, releasing on October 23rd, 2020 via Rise Records. We discussed the making of the new album, releasing new music during this uncertain time, the more adult themes of the band’s music these days, how the band approaches songwriting, working with producer Elvis Baskette, the decision to cover Soundgarden’s “The Day I Tried To Live” and how they almost didn’t go through with it and more. Purchase the album here and listen to our chat right now.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Disciples of Verity – Pragmatic Sanction


Music fans love a good supergroup. However, a lot of times the results may vary and the resultant music that felt like it would rule on paper doesn’t translate in the end. Well, that sure isn’t the case with Disciples of Verity. Not only does the band boast a who’s who of dynamic talents from across Rock and Metal (Living Colour, God Forbid, Negative Sky, Sekond Skyn), their debut release Pragmatic Sanction (The Label Group/InGrooves) has a ton of memorable songs; heavy enough for the real headbangers, but catchy enough for the masses. Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: High Priestess – Casting the Circle – Ripple Music


When LA trio High Priestess‘s eponymous debut High Priestess (Ripple Music) landed in 2018, it took my breath away with its mesmeric, Doomy hypnosis and occasional brutality. Waxing lyrical about it then, I was already eager and anxious to see if they could follow it. I needn’t have worried: sophomore set Casting the Circle (Ripple Music) maintains the impossibly high standards of that first album while enhancing the entrancing elements of their sound.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: The Earth Below – Nothing Works Vol 2: Hymns for Useless Gods


Deepak Raghu is an extremely diverse, creative entity. His previous forays into Rock and Metal have embraced many outlying elements such as Americana, Folk, and Soul: on Nothing Works Vol 2: Hymns for Useless Gods (Unheard Music), his latest outing with solo project The Earth Below, he melds those traditional sounds with melodic weight, in turn baffling and eventually ensnaring the senses.Continue reading


EXCLUSIVE STREAM: The Endangered Species – “Magic Man”


Atlanta’s Blues-Rock up and comers The Endangered Species have shared a new stream and video for their new single “Magic Man”, shared exclusively today here at Ghost Cult. The track comes from their debut album, due out on October 18th. The project was born from terrible tragedy; brothers Wade and Robin Divver, lost their father was brutally murdered by the Sinaloan drug cartel on February 12th, 2001. The only living memory the brothers have of their father were his most prized possessions: a 1983 Fender Stratocaster and a 1967 Gibson SG. Eight years later, inspired by their life experiences the pair officially started their band The Endangered Species. The album releases just in time for their father’s birthday to honor his memory and maybe change the world in the process. The track is pure pain and soul, an explosion of frosty vocals, slick guitar and fierce B3 organ playing. The video is also a lot of fun! Jam out to the track now!Continue reading


Forty Years Ago – Led Zeppelin Released “In Through The Out Door”


On this day forty years ago, Led Zeppelin signaled the begging of the end when they released their final studio album, In Through The Out Door (Atlantic). That title alone should have been then first clue really, that this was not your older brother’s Zep album. The turmoil stricken members fought through loss, and injury, and drugs, and excess, but wound up still making fine music. ITTOD is a solid album with moments of greatness. It’s definitely a late-era gem in their catalog in many ways, but also a signpost to the fatigue they were feeling after over a decade on top of rock’s peak. Drummer John Bonham would pass away just thirteen months and two weeks after this release, more or less ending the band as a regular unit. Continue reading


Beastie Boys Released “Ill Communication” Twenty-Five Years Ago


Beastie Boys were on fo the biggest, most successful groups in the work in the early 1990s when they made Ill Communication (Capitol/Grand Royale), released twenty-five years ago today. Prolific, putting out a new album every 2-3 years, the band was focused on never repeating themselves, and constantly improving. It would have been very easy for them to just keep remaking Licensed To Ill (Def Jam) over and over and that would have been enough for many bands. But Ad-Rock, Mike D, and MCA (RIP Adam Yauch) kept on changing and evolving. As they had on the previous few albums, they played all the instruments, and played them incredibly well on every track, across multiple genes. They had genius guest stars and collaborators (Q-Tip, Biz Markie, Amery Smith of Suicidal Tendencies, Money Mark, Bobo from Cypress Hill) and put the music first, before everything. Even the production on Ill Communication is incredible, all respect due to the B-E-A-S-T-I-E’s and their frequent partner at this time, Mario Caldato (“Mario C”). Continue reading