Waking the Dead

posted in: Artist Features • Rock

Not all ghosts like to rattle their chains and spook their human counterparts. Some just want to play, leading their subjects on wild goose chases and hide-and-seek games in the dark. Columbus, Ohio’s Phantods conjure this mischievous, macabre sort of spirit in their eerie, tongue-in cheek haunt-rock. Singer Gretchen King plays the graveyard seductress, her come-hither coo winding through minor-key guitar frenzies. Stylistically, Phantods meander on the outskirts of blues, metal and even rockabilly with remarkable precision. Guitars race and course through the verses of the up-tempo rocker Revival, then lumber through the pseudo sludge metal chorus as church bells clang in the distance. Lone Highway gets off to a theatrically slow start, as King shows off vocal acrobatics that almost feel like jazz. Soon enough, guitars and drums kick in at breakneck speeds, and the moody melody becomes a rollicking romp that could wake the dead. Phantods do not go gently into that good night; they go fearlessly. Theirs is a walk on the wild side you won’t want to miss.