By Greg Maki
After leaving German “electronicore” act Electric Callboy (then known as Eskimo Callboy) in 2020, vocalist Sebastian “Sushi” Biesler wasted no time in starting his next project, Ghøstkid, and releasing its self-titled debut album later that same year. Pursuing a darker, more metalcore-influenced sound than the band Biesler had fronted for a decade, “Ghøstkid” got the new act’s foot in the door but had the misfortune of being released during a global pandemic, severely limiting its international reach. That’s changing with “Hollywood Suicide,” the band’s long-gestating sophomore effort, a semi-concept album about crashing and burning in the pursuit of stardom amid the seedy underbelly of what arguably remains the entertainment capital of the world. It’s also a more diverse, fully realized version of the sound Biesler explored on the debut, bringing to mind Motionless in White, Bring Me the Horizon, Bad Omens, Linkin Park and more.
“Hollywood Suicide” comes screaming out of the gate with the full-throttle title track, then immediately slips into the power ballad “S3x,” marked by a dramatic chorus and shredding guitar solo. “FSU” brings the heavy back, with a touch of the dance rhythms of Electric Callboy, then comes “Heavy Rain,” radio friendly in a Bad Omens sort of way and featuring a terrific vocal from Biesler. The moody “Valerie” stumbles a bit with its pseudo rapping, but the record quickly regains its footing with the slamming “Black Cloud,” featuring a killer riff and another great chorus. Songs start to blend together a bit in the album’s second half—while remaining entirely listenable—before the strong finish of “Dahlia,” expertly blending heaviness and melody, and the poppier ballad “Helena Drive.” Either of these last two could follow “Heavy Rain” in generating serious heat on Octane or any terrestrial rock radio stations that actually play new music. (Do any of those still exist?)
With 11 songs running 37 minutes and a real sense of dynamics, “Hollywood Suicide” is an easily digestible collection. There is a lot of familiarity here, but Biesler has packaged it in a way that is uniquely Ghøstkid.
Rating: 8/10
Century Media Records – March 22, 2024
LINKS:
Buy “Hollywood Suicide.”
www.ghost-kid.de
www.facebook.com/ghostkidofficial
www.twitter.com/iamghostkid
www.instagram.com/ghostkiddo
YouTube channel