This Year's Ghost - 'Yesterday Becomes Tomorrow Today' EP Review

Tracklist:

1. Death Of A Gift

2. December Sun

3. Carry Us In Blue

4. Silver Tongue

5. Black Dogs

After the headache of trying to understand the title of the EP I sat down with open ears and a confused mind (it doesn't take much). The opening guitar riff has this tinged noise gate and is isolated so that when the groove hits, you are floored by the dynamic uplift. It is a simple and effective tool that pleases me and invites me into the powerful production of this EP. I imagine a few different voices before I hear the singer dance over the top. I hear Myles Kennedy, I hear Eddie Vedder and I hear Cornell. I am expectant of an absolute powerhouse to stomp through this song and drag the riffs with him. The vocals did not disappoint and I still find myself struggling to pin an influence on him. Very unique. No over vibrato, no going high for no reason. Just great melodies sang with force and great execution. ‘Death of a Gift’ is a great opener.

The opening two tracks I found way too similar. Even the effective intro that dazzled me initially was identical on the next song, ‘December Sun’. That being said. I am beginning to notice that my favourite part of this band is their singer. His voice is just fantastic. The songs seem to mesh their way around his voice. At the 3:00 mark, the vocalist bellows an amazing note at the top of his range (4th octave?) and I still feel he could push further.

This is a band I want to see live. There is a lot of room for the songs to grown in a live setting and I would love to hear them in that context. ‘Carry Us In Blue’ has me from the start. The intro instrumental is just perfect. Very prog metal almost, it shows that this band really has chops. Again we get the pay-off of a huge chorus, that floats along seamlessly. This Year's Ghost are a band with bags of melody and it is evident that is the core of their song writing. No one overplays. The song is clearly boss.

‘Silver Tongue’ sounds very Tremonti influenced but still retains its own dignity and originality at the same time. The verse vocal harmonies get me very excited for the chorus and as usual we are delighted with a huge and anthemic aural treat. By far my favourite song off the EP, ‘Black Dogs’ begins with a very quirky odd timed groovy riff. Followed by the freight train of vocals that is Paul Mckenzie. The guitar interplay throughout this song is very sophisticated. Lots of counterpoints going on and something new to pick out on every listen. The outro is ace but leaves me wanting more. I feel it ends so abruptly. Job done I guess?

No song is too long. They know their genre well and what fans of this music will want to hear. Short, punchy and hard hitting rock songs. That's all there is too it. A great EP from a band I look forward to hearing more from.

Stand Out Track: Black Dogs