GHOST OF A MAN STILL ALIVE

US band CHEST ROCKWELL has been a going entity for more than 15 years, but with the majority of their output appearing prior to 2015. "Ghost of a Man Still Alive" is the first new material to be delivered by the band since 2014, and as with all their other albums it was self-released by the band.

Chest Rockwell have never been a typical progressive rock band, or even a typical band overall. They have always been exploring their own paths, and if they have any major interest in being a part of a progressive rock scene I can't really tell. They do make interesting and innovative music however, and to my mind at least have a true progressive spirit to the material they create, even if or perhaps because of not including all that many obvious references to the past of progressive rock or progressive metal. It is a production that will have more of a niche appeal, but it is a band and an album well worth investigating by those who are interested in a rather purebred alternative variety of progressive rock and progressive metal.

We're Doomed! I'll Hasten the Day!

I'm Already Gone, But Still Linger Here

Listen. There's an old man, just totally disillusioned, ready to vaporize the whole stinking place.

YOU know- maybe some awful virus- that sort of thing. Just lay waste to the whole crumbling, drowning damned infrastructure.

The things he had, the stuff he relished and treasured- wasted. Destroyed.

So CHEST ROCKWELL

Or, if you prefer, JOSH HINES- mega-talented do-it-yourselfer kind of guy.

Well, anyhow, CHEST ROCKWELL presents the next in a line of albums, and it's back to JOSH, since the other guys were otherwise occupied, I guess.

This is bristling, no-holds-barred progressive metal, if you ask me, and well, I know you didn't, but there you go. Yes, there are elements of post-rock interwoven. And by the way, NOTHING like DREAM THEATER, since almost every time 'progressive metal' is mentioned, the damned reviewer is duty-bound to refer to DT.

Nope, not DT- and actually, come to think of it- COMPLETELY its own beast.

Ghost of a Man Still Alive

Again, consider the source- this reviewer, and his opinions, for what they're worth- but I hear this one as a very dark meditation on humans, destruction of the precious and non-renewable things of life and treasure, desperation, boxing ourselves into a no-exit, unpleasant cul-de-sac, and let's just say it...genocide of ourselves.

And, Back to the Old Guy

He's HAD it. Says to himself- "May as well just hasten that day of apocalypse."

Well, can anyone argue.

The Music?

Stark. Mean riffs. Heavy. Constantly turbulent rhythm section- and I do wish those drums were mixed a little cleaner, the bass a little louder. Angular. Bristly. Punchy. Seething. Sort of an Egyptian/Arabian/middle-Eastern sound blended in there. Atmospheric string/synthesizers. Molten, clean vocals.

I mean, there is NO quarter given. Relentless. No solace. It's OVER baby.

Four Interludes

Which if you listen carefully, cover the spectrum of time, using spacey ambient psych-sounds and space travel images. I pictured the old guy, brilliant, slowly going mad, whirring about in his craft over the crumbling sands of the desert, ready to release...whatever venom he had developed.

"Present". "Future". "Past". "Eternal Return".

So...MAYBE Redemption?

A ray of hope? The possibility of some kind of renewal?

You, dear listener/reader, must decide. I'd like to think so, but then...

In Conclusion

I thought this was gripping, original, provocative, dark in all the right ways, heavy, relentless, and pretty darn great. Even the lyrics were well worth pondering.

So, 4 far-flung flights.