Album Review: GosT - Valediction

There’s a sleazy, seedy edge to GosT that markedly sets them apart from fellow keyboard enthusiasts like Carpenter Brut and Perturbator. And not just because Valediction opens with a blast of hyper-speed black metal before you get anywhere near any dark electro-pop or synthwave.

There’s a vibe about them that says ‘floor drugs’, that says sleaze, and that very loudly screams ‘sketchy characters’. But, oh, how this grubbiness and the filth of black metal seeps into GosT’s music and gives them their distinct character. Where last year’s Possessor album was wilfully aggro to the point of unattractiveness, here they come offering something more sinfully appealing.

Among the darker moments like the thrashing assault of Timeless Turmoil and the crunching Ligature Marks, the almost Manson-esque Wrapped In Wax slithers nastily along on a filthy groove, while the openly-’80s synth-pop of Dreadfully Pious is The Human League in black metal clothes. It’s an illicit delight from the dark underbelly of synth.

Verdict: 4/5