THEOCRACY — Ghost Ship (review)

Album · 2016 · Power Metal

4/5 · 2016-10-31
adg211288

The US progressive power metallers Theocracy are a band that I've been aware of for quite a while now, since around the time that they only had two albums to their name, but never actually listened to. For some reason I skipped over giving them a go upon the release of their previous effort As the World Bleeds (2011) despite seeing a fair bit of hype for it at the time and as they've had a large break between albums since then nothing has reminded me to change that. That is at least until fourth album Ghost Ship (2016) sailed into port.

I think it's fair to say that the album wasn't quite what I expected to hear, but that's probably my own fault for having any expectations of an artist I hadn't listened to before. Being usually described as a progressive power metal band though, I was expecting something a lot more adventurous and well, progressive, out of Theocracy than what I'm hearing on Ghost Ship. Aside from a few parts that add flavour, this album is fairly standard melodic power metal fare, sometimes with a slightly harder edge to the riffs but without ever going over into speed/thrash or even USPM territory. The songs The Wonder of it All and Castaway are good examples of this. The band make use of some symphonic metal elements but they're often in the background, though are more notable on tracks such as Paper Tiger and Easter. As a power metal band Theocracy display all the correct chops and singer Matt Smith has a good voice. The production is polished and as such is well suited to this kind of music. In short for this kind of record they tick all the boxes. The only thing that remains to consider is whether the songs themselves are any good.

Well, yes they generally are. When the band really get going and rock, they rock hard, even if they aren't reinventing the wheel with their style. Key tracks to my ears are Paper Tiger, Ghost Ship and Castaway and the album in general delivers solid power metal, though Around the World and Back and Currency in a Bankrupt World do come over as being slightly weaker than the standard while A Call To Arms is a pretty damn catchy track but there's something about it's chorus that gives me the impression that it should be on some airplay bothering pop-punk band's album instead.

The closing track Easter immediately stands out as the most inventive piece due to crossing the ten minute barrier. Instrumentally I'd say its definitely the most impression composition that Theocracy have cooked up, but my regard for the song takes a hit because it has one of those extra cheesy power metal choruses that I find difficult to stomach, so I can imagine listeners who aren't into power metal so much having even more trouble with it. Of course Theocracy do have a few others that lean towards this sort of thing across the record, but this one feels much more pronounced. I think the Christian lyrics may even play a role in that. I of course knew going into Ghost Ship that Theocracy were a Christian band and that's not a thing that typically bothers me in music (I'd count Neal Morse as one of my favourite progressive rock artists for example), but the effect here makes it seem like Matt Smith and co would rather be singing songs of praise in church or something, rather than playing power metal.

A few missteps aside, Ghost Ship proves to be a decent power metal offering from Theocracy. It serves well as a first experience for the group. I admit I do have a bit of nagging doubt about it though given their usual description as progressive power metal which makes me wonder if this isn't somehow watered down compared to the likes of As the World Bleeds or Mirror of Souls (2008), but I can't answer that until I get around to exploring those albums, which Ghost Ship has at the very least convinced me to do. So my rating is based solely on Ghost Ship's own merits.

more than 2 years ago
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adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I initially thought I'd be reviewing this at something more like 3 stars as my first listen didn't actually go too well, but it really opened up to me with a couple more spins and it's ended up just about cracking my top 30. It will probably drop out of it by the time I've reviewed the new ones from Hail Spirit Noir, Аркона and Helstar though.

adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

It wouldn't bother me if you wanted to post sooner. Always interested to read another opinion.

DippoMagoo wrote:

more than 2 years ago

This probably is their most straight-forward album to date, though I still think it has a few tracks I would never call pure power metal. I actually have my own review ready to post on the site soon, but I'll wait until there's been at least one review for a different album up first, because while our ratings are only off by half a star, I think if i were to post mine right away it would look too much like a counter review, that's how different it reads. (The ironic thing about that: I actually wrote that review a few days ago, so I didn't even know you were reviewing this at the time.)