British band Novaghost have crafted a diverse “future metal” sound, fusing heavy riffs, dreamy synths and soaring vocals in a metalcore approach they describe as “aggression, atmosphere and purpose.”
The London and Hertfordshire-based quartet was started in 2021 by seasoned giggers, guitarist Harry and bassist Sami. They launched a series of online auditions to start a metalcore band, bringing in Phil as a second guitarist and experimenting with a handful of singers and drummers for their first few singles. They soon brought in ‘veteran drummer’ Fred and professional vocalist Nico which, in their words, “helped elevate the band to the next level, musically, lyrically and sonically, synergising with the founders to converge into the ultimate machine of the Novaghost sound.”
And on the sound they’ve honed since, Phil told us: “Honest metalcore mixed with what we like to call future metal.’ Compounding 20 years of a collective metal obsession ranging from Killswitch Engage and Metallica to Northlane and Polaris, combined with an extensive individual and collective musical talent, experience and joy.”
Our latest taste of this is Illuminate, which was released last month. It starts out with dreamy synths over echoey vocals, before a darting guitar lick kicks into a big instrumental section powered by intense drums. That flows into a huge opening chorus of heavy vocals, driving guitars and drums, which drops into clean vocals that continue over chugging chords and big backing vocals. The intense instrumentals take over again, continuing over vicious screamed vocals before dropping into delicious piercing guitar sounds. The track suddenly slows with dreamy, high-pitched vocals, which give way to a cool little guitar solo setting up a big atmospheric conclusion.
On the track, Phil told us to expect: “A striking balance between good and evil, robotic precision and machine-like accuracy with crushingly savage motifs and soaringly sonorous themes. A buffet of musical flavours ranging from heavy, fast, groovy, clean and every feeling in between to craft an emotion that the listener can absorb and embrace.”
Illuminate is the fifth in a series of singles released over the last two years, including the superb Hurricane, the vicious Colours, the slightly more melodic Devil’s Den that features big bouncy guitar riffs, and the lively Ember Eternal, which you can check out in the video below.
The Novaghost sound draws on a wide range of musical influences, including metal bands like Northlane, Erra, Wage War, Polaris, Ghost Iris, Silent Planet, Monuments, Periphery, Muse, Sleep Token, Bleed From Within, Slipknot, Spiritbox and Time the Valuator. Beyond that, the band also draws on artists from Hans Zimmer and Rachmaninoff to Def Leppard and Linkin Park, Massive Attack and The Prodigy and everything in between.
And on what inspires them to write music, Phil explains: “An unwavering passion for creation, composition and all things heavy metal, with themes ranging from existentialism, nihilism, reflection, anger, nostalgia, love, conformity, religion, politics, the detrimental effects of social media on our self worth, the impact of artificial intelligence on our society, space, history, literature, the future of humanity and our planet.
“For example, the intention with Illuminate was to somehow echo a robotic and digital yet humanly emotional communication between man and machine. The idea for the sound actually stemmed from two places: a brief discussion between band members regarding a future where humans could essentially become immortal by placing conciousness into machinery, becoming what in some circles known as a ‘construct’ (the original name of the demo in fact), and a recently finished novel – William Gibson’s 1980s novel Neuromancer, which introduced the idea of cyberspace – a digital landscape traversible by humans, and a bio-mechanical method of interfacing computers known as ‘jacking in.’ Themes of love, loss, and memory emerge in a bittersweet, triumphant journey, making Illuminate, in our opinion, a standout track in Novaghost’s evolution, raw, radiant, and deeply human.”
Illuminate is the first in a series of singles to be released over the next few months, accompanied by videos, instrumental playthroughs, and more. The band will also be returning to gigging early next year, kicking off at Blondies in Hackney on 29 January.
And Phil added: “Put simply, we’re here because we live and breathe it. The music, the community, the gigs, the shared passion from musicians and fans alike. We do what we love and we love what we do, so keep two eyes on the ghost of the supernova – an explosive, relentless and ever-shifting space, because we’ve only just begun.”
You can follow Novaghost on Facebook, Instagram, Threads and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Soundcloud and YouTube.
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