Review by JD on December 10, 2009.

Hardcore Punk and Metal always seems to try and mix together (on more than one occasion), and make a bastard spawn that kills the defenceless and the pitiful... and that beast is called Metalcore. The thing with such a union is that sometimes it is really good, and sometimes I cringe at what was being made. It was the 80's band Carnivore (one of my favourite crossover bands) that showed that it is good when done right. Does Los Angeles based The Ghost Inside do it right... we’ll see...

Thundering out at the listener like a mile long freight train down a mountain side at full speed, The Ghost Inside is almost like an unstoppable force of nature that is out for pure devastation. Mixing the fury and heart felt angst of pure Hardcore while being able to play like any of the metallic gods past and present, the band shows that their wide influences that shape their music run the gambit of both sides of the extreme music genres.

Songs like the very intelligent 'Faith Or Forgiveness' to the brutally honest Punk anthem 'Inherent Youth' show off the two sides of the coin the band has. They show that you can combine musical complexity and straight forwardness into something that blows the competition away. They straddle the line between the two genres and come out and really put out a album that is both intriguing and simply mind blowing.

The band is almost like Motorhead meets Corrosion Of Conformity, DRI while adding in some nasty version of Nu-metal, then exhibiting a shit load of anger and aggression that makes the band so damned good... that is exactly what the Ghost boys are all about.

The Ghost Inside may not be most peoples cup of tea... but if you don’t drink tea, who bloody cares about that. The band are just a crossover act that works so damned well, kicks some major ass and then takes names to return to kick the hell out of them again. It is true that the band has not in any way have invented this ‘Metalcore’ thing... but they sure have made the genre a little bit better than what it had been.

Categorical Rating Breakdown　

Musicianship: 7.5
Atmosphere: 7
Production: 6.5
Originality: 6
Overall: 7.5

Rating: 6.9 out of 10