Input is greater than chaos. That is quite a statement being made by the UK industrial/experimental metal outfit, Ghold. It is more than merely just the title of their most recent release however, which proves to be a brutally honest philosophical soundscape. It could simply be interpreted on a large scale as the chaos that comes out of choice does not outweigh the means of personal action towards a choice. Chaos is ever present, but we have the means to plug-in and persevere through the suffocating miasma.
INPUT>CHAOS by Ghold is a spine bending sonic experience that plunges the listener into equally twisted and ethereal soundscapes. The opening track ‘Chaos Reigns’ encapsulates this blistered beauty seamlessly. Behind the entrancing vocals are soul shredding utterances that confound the mind into juxtaposing states of bliss and bewilderment. The following track ‘Divine’ continues this same wild blur of brooding anger and angelic grace. These contrasting stances, come together with the overall aesthetic philosophy of the album’s moniker in ’Blindsided & Drunk.’ Feelings of slogging through a mental quagmire and getting caught riptide of emotional duress make the track bristle with an overwhelming sense of reality. It is an appeal to getting caught off guard by life and drowning in escapism to avoid the self.
The textures and timbres summoned forth by Ghold evoke a sense of purgatory and cacophony that can be associated with day-to-day life. The closing repetition ‘caress me, caress me…’ in ‘Of Mercia’ is directly in line with the human need for love and affection within conflict. Although the tinges of industrial elements may make the album appear somewhat cold, and perhaps inhuman, the concepts blend together to create a startling, and breathtakingly, human output.
INPUT>CHAOS is available now and can be purchased here.
Words: Garrett A. Tanner
