''Ghost Thief'' is the eighth studio album by the

Christian metal Christian metal, also known as white metal, Jesus metal, or heavenly metal, is heavy metal music distinguished by its Christian-themed song lyrics and the dedication of the band-members to Christianity. Christian metal is typically performed by ...

band

Living Sacrifice Living Sacrifice is an American Christian metal band formed in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1989. The band has released eight studio albums, out of which the first three were recorded under R.E.X. Records with their original vocalist Darren John ...

. It is their second album produced by

Jeremiah Scott Demon Hunter is an American Christian metal band from Seattle, Washington, formed by brothers Don Clark and Ryan Clark in 2000. Ryan is the band's only remaining original member, as Don left in 2009. As of the 2010s, the band has sold over ...

Writing and recording

The band toured in support of their prior album, ''

The Infinite Order ''The Infinite Order'' is the seventh studio album from Christian metal band Living Sacrifice released January 26, 2010. The album, produced by Jeremiah Scott and mixed and mastering done by Andy Sneap marks a return for the band since their pr ...

'', for three years before starting up work on recording a followup. The band chose to once again work with

music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

Jeremiah Scott, with whom the band had collaborated on their previous album. The band started with writing the music, and then wrote lyrics once the music was already established.

Themes and composition

The album's title, ''Ghost Thief'', is meant as "the

personification Personification is the representation of a thing or abstraction as a person, often as an embodiment or incarnation. In the arts, many things are commonly personified, including: places, especially cities, National personification, countries, an ...

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

". Conceptually, the album's lyrics explore the fleeting nature of

life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

, the idea of an

afterlife The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's Stream of consciousness (psychology), stream of consciousness or Personal identity, identity continues to exist after the death of their ...

, and how death can be viewed as either "friend or foe" by different people in different circumstances. The tracks "Ghost Thief" and "Sudden" specifically were both inspired by family members of

Lance Garvin Lance Garvin is an American drummer and, along with Bruce Fitzhugh, DJ Johnson and Jason Truby, a founding member of the Christian metal band Living Sacrifice. Garvin is mostly known for using a Ride Cymbal in modern metal without making it soun ...

and

Rocky Gray William Caldwell "Rocky" Gray (born July 2, 1974) is an American drummer and guitarist. He is a guitarist for the bands Living Sacrifice, Even Devils Die, and Creepy Carnival, and the drummer for Soul Embraced, Mourningside, Machina, and W ...

, who died unexpectedly. The album consists of songs that are mid- to fast-tempo

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...

and

groove metal Groove metal, sometimes also called neo-thrash or post-thrash, is a subgenre of heavy metal music that began in the early 1990s. The genre is primarily derived from thrash metal, but played in slower tempos, and making use of rhythmic guitar pa ...

, but also features more

melodic A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of pitch and rhythm, while more figuratively, the term c ...

guitar-work than prior albums as well. Many tracks on the album do not use standard

verse Verse may refer to: Poetry * Verse (poetry), a line or lines in a poetic composition * Blank verse, a type of poetry having regular meter but no rhyme * Free verse, a type of poetry written without the use of strict meter or rhyme, but still re ...

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...

song structure Song structure is the arrangement of a song, and is a part of the songwriting process. It is typically sectional, which uses repeating forms in songs. Common piece-level musical forms for vocal music include bar form, 32-bar form, verse–chorus ...

Reception

Specifying in a three star review by ''

CCM Magazine ''CCM Magazine'' is an online magazine focusing on contemporary Christian music and media, published by Logan and Amanda Sekulow. History ''CCM'' was first published in July 1978, as a printed magazine. It has been owned by Salem since 1999. O ...

'', Matt Conner recognizes, "With blistering songs like 'Sudden' and the title track, it's clear these guys aren't hanging it up any time soon." David Stagg, indicating in a three star review from ''

HM Magazine ''HM Magazine'' is a monthly, digital and print on demand publication focusing on hard music and alternative culture of interest to Christians. It is based in Houston, Texas. Originally published as ''Heaven's Metal'', it was renamed to ''HM'' in ...

'', realizes, "The album succeeds on most fronts, but if we’re judging on all the merits in between, the bulk of the tracks blend in." Signaling in a four star review for Jesus Freak Hideout, Timothy Estabrooks responds, "it is an excellent album filled with many masterfully-performed tracks and only a couple of disappointments." Lee Brown, mentioning for Indie Vision Music in a five star review, reports, "''Ghost Thief'' is simply a powerhouse album that fans who have been waiting three long years to get their hands on will not mind coming back to in the coming year/s until the next great Living Sacrifice masterpiece is released." The second opinion by Aaron Lambert from Jesus Freak Hideout, where he rated the album four and a half stars, depicts, "''Ghost Thief'' becomes yet another Christian metal classic from the godfathers of the genre itself."

Track listing

Personnel

Living Sacrifice *

Bruce Fitzhugh Bruce Patrick Fitzhugh is an American musician. He is the second lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and founding member of Arkansas's Christian metal band Living Sacrifice. The lead vocalist role was left to Bruce shortly after the departure of Da ...

- lead vocals, rhythm guitar *

- lead guitar *

Arthur Green Arthur Green (, born March 21, 1941) is an American scholar of Jewish mysticism and Neo-Hasidic theologian. He was a founding dean of the non-denominational rabbinical program at Hebrew College in Boston. He describes himself as an American Jew ...

- bass, vocals *

- drums, percussion Guest musicians * Ryan Clark - vocals on track 1 *

Dave Peters David Peters is an American musician. He was the original guitarist for the metal band Eighteen Visions, guitarist for Throwdown, and, since 2002, the vocalist for Throwdown. He has also provided guest vocals for the song " Unleash" by Soulfly, ...

- vocals on track 10 *

Nick Hipa Samuel Nicholas Hipa (born November 30, 1982) is an American musician. He is the current lead guitarist of Mire, lead guitarist of Wovenwar, and was the longtime former lead guitarist of As I Lay Dying (band), As I Lay Dying. He has also been to ...

- lead guitar on track 3 *

- acoustic intro on track 1 *T.D. Benton - additional percussion on track 2 * Josh Childers, Dustinn Lowery, Brad Hartley, Chris Bazor, Adam Phillips, and Loren Tew - Viking gang vocals Production *Recorded by

, at Jeremiah Scott Production *Produced by

, Living Sacrifice *Mixed by Steve Blackmon ;Art *Cover art by Travis Smith *Additional design by Ryan Clark of

Invisible Creature Invisible Creature is an illustration and graphic design studio based in Seattle, Washington. It is run by brothers Don and Ryan Clark and was formed in 2006. Don and Ryan are also the co-founders of Asterik Studio (2000-2008). Clients include: N ...

*Photos by

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2013 albums Living Sacrifice albums Solid State Records albums