GHOST MACHINERY – Haunting Remains

Ghost Machinery comes from Finland and was formed around 2002 to give a home to the tracks lying around in Burning Point’s singer Pete Ahonen’s drawers. After finally getting a group together with other hometown hopefuls from another local band, Wildcard, Ghost Machinery was born. Ghost Machinery is obviously Pete’s creation, and he is credited on writing all the songs on Haunting Remains.

Right from the first note, it’s clear that this is Power Metal mixed with a lot of 80’s influence including “real” guitar solos. The main focal point on most songs is fast drum and guitar playing, while the most striking difference being the melodic 80’s style vocals.

On closer look, the album is more accurately divided in two main styles: the first being fast tempo Power Metal songs, and the other Melodic Hard Rock songs with occasional Power Metal overtones. The only constant theme being the vocals, which carry a lot of variety, but also have constant and identifiable warmth in them.

“Down In Flames” stands out with its many melody hooks. “Dreamworld,” the epic ballad about self discovery, builds up from piano-only backing, to the full band, then back to piano-only again … it even has a short electric guitar solo along with a little acoustic guitar passage. This is a typical description of the rich variety the songs have. Even though there are 13 songs in total on this CD, none of them suffer from lack of ideas.

“From the Edge of the World” brings back the fast drums and even faster guitars. This song keeps in line with the theme of the band and album name by incorporating spooky, whispered dialogue. The spookiness is also evident in the laughter that ends the cover of Gary Moore’s “Out in the Fields” — the lead vocals are handled on this one by fellow countryman Ville Laihiala from Sentenced. Ghost Machinery manage to make Moore’s song sound like one of their own, which in itself is an achievement.

Strangely enough, “Darkest Hour” brings forth Runaway area Bon Jovi sounds, and it even has that high pitched scream. On this track, the vocals are at their most versatile, and at first have a warm, laid back tone. “Fallen Angels” is 80’s Metal again, with a distant touch of Deep Purple, along with an old-school “real” guitar solo in true Yngwie Malmsteen style.

“Heaven and Hell” picks up the speed again and brings us to Symphonic Power Metal. Dio could have just as well trademarked the word “evil,” or least the kind of tone in which it is used here, since it’s impossible not to think of him while listening to chorus of “In your (evil) dreams.” “Shadows” ends the album with a reminder of the most annoying thing on this album – that dry, piercing, woodpecker type drum sound.

Forgetting the occasional woodpecker-sounding drums, this album is filled with imaginary keyboard and guitar interludes. Singer Pete Ahonen has a strong, warm voice, which is a welcome change to the more typical operatic voices of most Power Metal singers. Each song on this album most definitely deserves to be heard and not kept in the bottom of anyone’s drawer.

So if you’re into 80’s Melodic Metal and not afraid of the more modern day Power Metal sounds, then listening to this one should bring a smile to your face!