Freakangel - How The Ghost Became album review

After three albums of driving cyber beats, industrialists Freakangel have taken a step in a new, heavier direction. Much like peers Combichrist, here the Estonians have fortified their dark electronica with steely, unyielding metal. Sonically, some of the tracks still fall into one camp or the other. Death Walks With Us, for instance, is aimed squarely at the club, and there are shades of Rammstein, Motionless In White and Marilyn Manson in the much more straight-down-the-line rock of Make Me Disappear. Elsewhere, though, the band have merged the two elements of their new sound together with impressive results. Witness The Fall rides in on harsh, pulsating waves but Fear Factory fans will find much to be excited about in the bludgeoning riffs that follow. Dimitry Darling’s vocals have been freed of any effects and his abrasive fury is all the more powerful for it. The highlight, though, is In The Witch House, a fusion of chilly, choppy beats and nightmarish riffs that’s all very Blair Witch. An exciting reinvention.