In their latest single, titled “Bleed Over Me,” poetic rock crew 308 Ghost Train deliver a stunningly brawny ballad that shows us a slightly different side of their sound than the one presented to us in their last couple of widely-released songs. Right from the jump, there’s something labored in the emotionality of both the lyrics and the music in “Bleed Over Me.” There’s an exposed nuance to the narrative that finds the verses intertwining with the beats and melodic charms that comprise the very core of the music, and while I wouldn’t go as far as to describe this as progressive rock, there’s a conceptualism to the design that I can’t help but notice.
URL: https://www.308ghosttrain.com/epk.html
308 Ghost Train are new kids on the block, but they’re playing like old souls here. The vocals are more prominent in the mix than they were in previous cuts, but considering the charisma that they afford both the music and the lyrics they convey, it’s difficult for me to understand why they weren’t as emphasized as they are here in the past. “Bleed Over Me” has a lot of moments that give our singer plenty of room to unleash everything he’s got on the audience, and though highly disciplined in his execution, he doesn’t hold back from clueing us in to just how passionate he is in his statements. There’s not a single element in this track that’s powerful enough to get in the vocal’s way, which is the primary reason why this feels more like pop-rock than it does straight rock n’ roll.
One of the first things that made me interested in 308 Ghost Train was their obvious chemistry, as it’s easy for even the most novice of music critics to pick up on the human commonalities that exist between the players in this band. You can tell that each one of these guys has a lot of personality to bring into the equation, and it’s those very personalities that wind up directing the flow of the instrumentation and, moreover, the moodiness that it imparts to the listener. For being such a simple song on paper, “Bleed Over Me” boasts an awfully complex aesthetical structure that doesn’t allow for us to simply brand it another rock song and move on to the next track in the playlist.
DEEZER: https://www.deezer.com/en/artist/66028662/radio?autoplay=true
You don’t have to be a big rock n’ roll fan to appreciate what 308 Ghost Train are doing with their work at the moment, but if you have a genuine affinity for what heavy music can produce in moments more emotional than the status quo would typically call for, “Bleed Over Me” is a gem you just can’t miss out on. There’s not a lot of wallop in the instrumentation, and metalheads would be best to look elsewhere for chest-beating aggression issued at lightning-speeds; this single is for those who want rock with some real feeling to it. This group has my attention for certain, and soon enough, I think they’re going to have yours, too.
Troy Johnston