Impossible to pigeonhole, Ripple Music blazes into the prog-doom realm with its signing of veteran Bay Area metallers THE GHOST NEXT DOOR to its endlessly diverse roster.
Living in a new home in Berkeley, California, singer/guitarist Gary Wendt, a former student of guitar legend Joe Satriani, found an abandoned acoustic and began toying with the idea of a new band.
Unexpectedly, the name came first, when he learned he was living next to a supposedly haunted house where a glowing orb was rumored to roam during the night.
The new band, with no members and no music yet, had a name: The Ghost Next Door.
Gary grew up in the infamous bay area music scene as a founding member of crossover legends Sacrilege BC and alt-metal champions Release. He spent a year recording and touring with Skinlab before embarking on the development of his own musical vehicle.
Emerging from the desire to marry the dark melancholy of 80s/90s alternative with the aggression and drive of Bay Area metal,
The Ghost Next Door blends
styles and influences from punk to jazz, progressive to sadcore, and modern rock to thrash into meter-bending, riff-driven heaviness fueled by abrasively honest lyrics.
Following the release of their 2015 debut on Belgium’s Mausoleum Records to critical worldwide response, the band set to work on their follow-up album, now set for release in early 2019 on new label Ripple Music.
The Ghost Next Door gigs tirelessly out of a compulsion to create and perform their expressive take on modern metal. Front man Gary has also been a featured artist in the
Rob Flynn and Friends performance series, along with members of Metallica, Slayer, Exodus, Testament, Death Angel, and Machine
Head.
Of the band and forthcoming record, Gary says, “We’re not interested in trends. A song is born from a single idea, but always mixed with some alternative sensibilities. Fusion, extreme, shoegaze, thrash – we write the unexpected.”
And of the signing to Ripple Music, CEO Todd Severin gushes, “Man, do these guys rock! Perhaps not the sound you’d immediately associate with Ripple, but their doom-laden metal simply destroyed Ripple HQ and left us mesmerized!”
Look for A Feast for the Sixth Sense, the new album from The Ghost Next Door, coming in early 2019 on deluxe vinyl, CD and digital from Ripple Music!
