Ghost Actor - Unfold

German label Aufnahme + Wiedergabe is proud to present the debut album from the sensational atmospheric duo Ghost Actor. Run by Mahk Rumbae of Konstruktivists and Oppenheimer MsII, along with Corina Nenuphar of Suicide Potion and Vile Oblique, they released their debut EP VILE back in January of this year. With good reception from critics, interest stirred in the market for this act, further pushing them to release Unfold.

And what we have with Ghost Actor is a six track LP, available both digitally and on vinyl. Each side contains three tracks, culminating in a run time of thirty eight minutes. And the song that started off this EP would be Margin. Serving in a soft lead drone, a slow and steady drum rhythm is introduced a little down the line. Another layer of synth work is added to the overall sound, followed by more traditional sounds, and eventually we're delivered the echoing vocals that almost sound like they're ringing from the afterlife. The song sounded pretty decent. However, my only complaint is that the track really seemed to drag on at parts, minimizing change to the song structure, which sometimes had me saying, "When is the sound going to move on?"

Sparks provided a bit more of a pop to it, hitting off with a steady, medium paced percussion based beat, with a dark ambient ring right below it. The vocals take on a less haunting approach this time around, going for a cleaner sound with a bit of a muffled effect on top of it. The music itself doesn't do much in terms of engaging the audience, remaining the same aside from a few touches added here and there.

The final A-side track, Forbidden, has a dark and magical feel to it, particularly because of the odd, deep pitched sound that comes out of it from the get go. The main bassline stay throughout the song, again using the same methods of adding and subtracting electronic sounds but never really came close to being a whole product that can be enjoyed.

And then it was on to the B-side tracks, kicking off with Lines. I wouldn't necessarily say that the song was completely new, for it sounded similar to previous songs on the album. The vocal delivery is definitely on spot, even adding a bit of a backing vocal to the main for a pretty awesome effect.

The title track of the album came up next, having more of an emphasis on ambiance this time around than not; the percussion based beat and all other sounds seemed to accompany the atmospheric sound, making this track unique from the rest. It didn't absolutely suck me in, but it was wonderful nonetheless.

And, the last track on the album, Surrender, played on the strengths this act has, with minimal electronics serving over a deep background of drones and ambient tones. Again, not the best thing in the world, but it pulled its weight.

Now, Ghost Actor definitely has a pretty nice ring to it; I found myself getting hypnotized not only by the music but also by the lead vocalist who did a tremendous job projecting her voice during the duration of the song. But, what I also found to be the major downside of this album was its slow moving ways. I don't mean in turns of tempo or rhythm, as I've listened to a ton of slow moving music and fell in love with it. I mean in terms of how basic the song structures were, and how they really didn't change up much. The monotonous sounds that lasted upwards of five to eight minutes per song kind of killed the positive outlook I had for the song, and after my second go through, I found myself skipping through the songs and not really wanting to sit through them.

This LP serves as a good experimental introduction to this duo. While the vocals are terrific, the music definitely needs to change for the better if they want to further improve themselves in the long run. I see good things in the future for these two, and I wish them luck on their journey. Nov 14 2014