Ghost Funk Orchestra are a mystery. Plain and simple. Dirty, soulful production, verbed and fuzzed out guitars, mysterious vocals that feel like a lost score to a Quentin Tarantino film. The brainchild of one-man producer/musician/arranger Seth Applebaum, GFO is forging new territory and blurring the line between soul and psychedelic. We are uber-proud to present their first full-length effort for our Karma Chief label imprint. This is just the tip of the iceberg for this group, already well into producing their follow up LP, this is a group we truly believe will become a prolific force in the modern psychedelic scene.
Eric Gales was hailed as the second coming of Jimi Hendrix when he first hit the blues circuit, an anointment that carries with it impossible pressures, and while Gales is a wonderful guitarist (naturally right-handed, he was taught to play the guitar left-handed, an odd thing, but again, Hendrix-like), he isn't Hendrix, nor will he or anyone ever be. Working out of the power trio format, Gales has more than proven he can play on his many albums, but his voice is average at best, and his songs tend toward the generic, often more like vehicles for guitar leads than actual songs that are crying out to be sung. That's why Ghost Notes is so intriguing, because it's Gales' first all-instrumental album, and therefore it bypasses his weaknesses as a performer and plays to his strengths – the man sure can play guitar.
Replete with an excellent Eliran Kantor (Fleshgod Apocalypse, Ex Deo) cover art - commissioned by Stainthorpe, "The Ghost of Orion" posits My Dying Bride back on the proverbial doom-death throne. In fact, they’ve never sounded better. From the doleful lay in 'Your Broken Shore' to the grim 10-minute epic 'The Old Earth,' "The Ghost of Orion" is the product of a vibrantly creative band unwilling to rest on their laurels or past glories.
My Dying Bride‘s three decades of misery almost came to an end several years ago. Following 2015’s universally lauded "Feel the Misery" album, vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe’s daughter, just five years old at the time, was diagnosed with cancer. Shocked and heartbroken, Stainthorpe put all band activities on hold while he, his immediate family, and My Dying Bride put their collective energies into eradicating what Stainthorpe called, "the cruellest of God's bitter and loveless creations"…
The Helicopter Of The Holy Ghost resuscitates music which literally nobody had even a memory of and brings it blinking into the light; thank your lucky stars then that Afters is timeless but very much alive…