The rare alchemy of Deflecting Ghosts captures a transcending beauty in their newest song, "Death is Calling." The Hutchinson, Kansas, trio, led by Luke Fitzgerald, jumps unhesitatingly into psychological darkness and takes us along for the ride. Birthed in part from Fitzgerald's solo project, Deflecting Ghosts has since grown into a full-band effort, and that collective power flows through every note of this release, the fourth overall, and the band's second as a unit. Written initially as slang poetry in a trilogy with throwback tracks "Lost My Mind" and "Passion," this one feels like the storm before the wreckage, splashy, aching, and maddeningly human.
"Death is Calling" is a brutal rock/alternative metal gut-punch, wrapped in atmospheric grit and rising tension. The track juxtaposes heavy riffs and thundering drums with lyrical fragility to portray the burden of love pushed to its limits. Fitzgerald's voice is shot through with weariness, but there's power in that weariness, the kind that resonates after the song is over. The instrumentation ends up as an emotional foil. Guitars both snarl and weep. The rhythm section operates like a wounded heartbeat, sometimes spastic, other times pounding with urgent clarity. There's a lived-in honesty to this song, and you can hear that it was forged from real experiences, not just inspiration.
"Death is Calling" is making it out alive even when surviving is painful. It is a reckoning with inner chaos and a tribute to what we risk when we love deeply and lose hard. The group isn't the kind to enshroud grief in poetic metaphors or clean lines. They allowed it to scream, groan, and unravel. Deflecting Ghosts proves here that their presence in the rock and alternative metal scenes isn't just a loud one, but it's a necessary one. "Death is Calling" insists upon being felt. Whether you were with them since the solo days or are just getting into them now, this song solidifies Deflecting Ghosts as a band to pay attention to and, more importantly, to listen to when it seems like your own ghosts are starting to talk.
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