Metal Hammer premiere ‘Faceless Ghost’ video here
Sophie K’s Breaking Bands has ‘Faceless Ghost’ as
‘Record of the Week’ over at Team Rock Radio here
and Ian Camfield playing it on Xfm
Plus – Love from Revolver Mag here,
Big Cheese audio premiere here
and Q Magazines Songs to Hear This Week here
'Stoneghost are just metal. Groove laden heavy fucking
metal. The kind that makes you want to down your pint and get your windmill on,
these guys are one to watch'
Sophie K, Breaking Bands - Team Rock
Radio
“I listened in my car...and I almost crashed! My head
almost exploded with how good this band are!"
Alex Baker, Kerrang! Radio
Sometimes you have to start from the present and work
backwards to get a story in context. On 6th April 2015
Stoneghost will release the relentless and blistering 'New Age of Old Ways' on
the Mascot Label Group (Black Label Society, Volbeat, Gojira, Joe Bonamassa),
but the band very nearly never made it to this point.
Front man, tattoo artist and mouth piece Jason Smith
recalls; “I was having a kid and I couldn't cope with it, I didn’t think I
would be able to carry on with the band too, I wasn’t in a good
place.”
Deciding to depart with a powerful epitaph of what they
were capable of, every strained emotion, the fury and anger that rose from the
pit of each stomach was pushed to the limit to create a beast of significance,
to collectively exit the world with a 'New Age of Old Ways'. The last record of
a promising but fledgling act, it was then that the reverberating noise reached
the ears of Mascot and things were to change.
Formed in Bromley, South East London in 2007 amongst a
thriving underground scene, Jason Smith (vocals) began the journey with Cris
Finniss (Drums), Jamie Nash (Bass) and Andrew Matthews (Guitar) as Snakebite.
The quartet quickly became a dominant fixture on the London circuit with their
blend of hardcore, metal and adrenaline fuelled rock.
In
2009 they opened Bloodstock Festival and stormed the stage in front of 1500
people. This led to them playing the Ronnie James Dio Stage at Bloodstock the
following year alongside Opeth, Fear Factory, Children of Bodom, Gojira and the
Devin Townsend Project. A trip to Germany to perform at the Wacken Open Air
festival came next as did Metal Hammer's Hammerfest IV in
2012.
It
was at this point in 2013 when Jason was at his dilemma “This was when I
wrote 'Faceless Ghost'” Jason continues. “It's about my daughter, she was
on the way, I was feeling apprehensive and scared about the responsibility and
seeing a therapist at the time, I was having some really low points, but because
I had a daughter on the way it gave me the reason to sort myself
out.”
When
recording 'New Age of Old Ways' they recruited the help of Russ Russell
who has previously worked with Napalm Death, Evile, Dimmu Borgir, Sikth
and New Model Army who helped harness the record that calls upon fear and
insecurities (Faceless Ghost), carnal pleasures (The Devils Motion), childhood
nightmares (All They Need Is The Light), mythology (Raynardine), defiance (The
Sound Remains), reflection (Sleeper), irritation (Your Trigger, My Finger),
emotional turmoil (Third Degree) and civilisation (Let Sleeping Beasts
Lie).
Live
is where they thrive, they occupy every space of the stage and if that means
crashing into each other to get the energy across then that’s what it takes.
Sometimes the energy and the aggression from the show spills over and it’s not
been unknown for the band to turn on each other, such is the adrenaline fuelled
performance. “We’ve beaten the shit out of each other” explains Jason,
but Jamie reflects; “the thing is, it’s not made us enemies, it’s made us
brothers.”
Cris; “we were able to fall out and get back
together again – we’ve been through so much shit personally and together, I
don’t think anything would break us now.”
‘New Age of Old Ways’ is the
new beginning for Stoneghost and it’s just the start, they going to bring the
noise and bring it loudly.
Stoneghost are:
Jason Smith (Vocals), Cris Finniss (Drums), Jamie Nash (Bass) and Andrew
Matthews (Guitar)
“With a hellacious mix of classic rock riffs,
Pantera-esque groove and a little thrash influence thrown in for good measure,
the London boys quickly whip up the crowd into a frenzy”
Metal Hammer
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