Thought Forms - Ghost Mountain
Posted by Armando Alvarez on 9th Aug 2013
Words by Armando Luis Alvarez
For the seemingly depraved depths to which Thought Forms reach on their bold second album, "Ghost Mountain," they sore equally high in magnificent swells on songs that seem to breathe life even where there is no air. Having taken five years between albums definitely shows, as the band has carefully constructed sprawling, ambient spaces around concentrated rock and indie low-fi awesomeness. Opening track 'Landing' lurches with the sort of doom-core you might expect from a band that plays only doom-core, but behind the frenetic screeches of male/female counterpoint vocals, varying intricacies of layer upon layer help keep the A.D.D. at bay. In complete contrast, the second track 'Ghost Mountain You and Me' earns the band their My Bloody Valentine comparisons (along-side such acts as Grooms and Swans) while putting them in a niche all their own. "Ghost Mountain" took a lot longer for the band to record, according to Charlie Romijn (guitars/vocals) in this interview with Figure 8 Magazine, because they "wanted to approach it differently and so it was a lot more involved, took a lot longer. ...it gives you time to breathe and come back to it with fresh ears." Thought Forms could have recorded 8 tracks of lighthearted romp (such as 'Ghost Mountain You and Me,' 'Sans Soleil,' 'Only Hollow,' and 'Song For Juko') but the focus on such spacious, overwhelming drones and experiments in slowness (found on 'Landing,' 'Burn Me Clean,' 'Afon,' and 'O') mark this band as much more than just another stripped down indie act. They stretch many musical muscles on this album, and the time and attention to detail definitely shows. Something to sink your teeth into that yields a sense of freedom, the possibilities of space.
Check out another act that played at All Tomorrow's Parties: Umberto.