Phantom On The Horizon was supposed to be The Fall of Troy's magnum opus. It was supposed to be the definitive post-hardcore release of 2008. It was supposed to be Illmatic, Ready To Die, London Calling, Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence. It was supposed to be.
But somewhere, between the heart and the synapse, something was lost.
Something, somewhere. It is this vagueness that troubles me - I don't know where exactly Phantom falls short. I just know for a fact that it does.
Phantom's definitely grown on me - when I first heard the CD, my only thought was "Thank God I didn't pay money for this". But with repeated listens, the criticism softened as I came to the realization that many of these shortcomings are self-made; that is, they're my fault, a product of lofty expectations and almost a half decade of hype.
In case you weren't aware, the "scene" has been waiting for this album ever since the Ghostship Demos EP was released in 2004. The disc was phenomenal, a four track tour de force that successfully fused the abrasive shriek-core of The Fall Of Troy with the outer space weirdness of The Mars Volta. 2005's Doppelganger saw one of the four tracks ("Macaulay McCulkin") given proper release, but the other three were left to stew for another couple of years, as Thomas Erak & Co tweaked with the sound little by little before finally committing them to tape in October of this year.
This stretch of time proved to be Phantom On The Horizon's biggest undoing. To somebody listening to Phantom On The Horizon with virgin ears, this is not immediately noticeable. But having picked apart the Ghostship Demos for the last four years, it is quite easy to see where The Fall Of Troy went wrong on the three Ghostship tracks ("I", "IV", and "V"). The changes are small and lie mostly in the arrangements, but they're crucial.
Article comments
1 - No Way
Having listened to The Fall of Troy ever since their self-titled debut, I have to say Phantom is every bit what I was expecting and more.
2 - Andy Kissner
I guess to each their own - I thought it was a gigantic letdown compared to the ghostship demos, but after reading all over the internet, I seem to be alone in that opinion.
3 - Josh
I think the reason the shrieking is gone is because Tim left the band, and he was the powerhouse of screaming in the band. That, and Fall of Troy want to become more arty, and not be confined to the limits of their genre.
4 - tony d
awww c'mon don't hate, at least it's finally out!
i think I-III are pure gold (especially that falsetto in the bridge of III). IV and V was more of a letdown cause we all have an idea what they sound like but had they never put out the demos, i doubt anyone would say anything cause of nothing to compare it to.
i think that's the bands point, not to delve in the past so much and just change it up here and there. be thankful its released, we aint gotta be so critical. light a blunt and appreciate
5 - cohen
so basically, less screaming= worse album for you? i though part IV was greatly improved by the cleaner vocals... would you have preffered some crazy screaming instead of the epic vocal solo in part III? this album definitely didn't lack, it brought more to the table than ghost ship, and is WAY better than manipulator.
6 - Andy Kissner
I don't believe that less screaming directly results in a worse album, per se. I simply believe that much was lost in the translation between Ghostship IV and the track IV on the album.
7 - Saugata Mittra
This review is incredibly biased.
8 - Dr Dreadful
It's a review, Saugata. It's supposed to be biased.
9 - john travolta
they got a top40 producer and LO AND BEHOLD put out a plastic, overproduced piece of garbage. they're trying to go mainstream. the biggest problem with this record is the producer, not the band.