I am absolutely running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Although I know Riot Fest is the same weekend every year, it somehow creeps up on me and, when it hits, I feel completely unprepared. Today is no different but I don’t want to get lost in the self-induced panic. Really, I’m good to go and it’s just a matter of packing and loading up the car but, in my warped mind, I have this urge to scrub the house down and make sure everything is clean before I leave. Long story short, I need to take a chill pill in the form of checking out some new music so, deep breath, let’s check out “Becoming The King of Ghosts” from The Amazing T-Bird.
“Dystopia” is the first track on this quick EP and it hits you hard right of the bat. With an almost industrial vibe and super heavy beat, there’s something almost otherworldly about this track. The vocals are just as strong but seem to soar over everything else in a striking way. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting and, if I’m being honest, it took me a wee bit to get used to the vocal style but, when I did, it made sense and added even more power to an already deafening powerful track. The beat throughout this song is steady yet it felt like it grew throughout the three and a half minutes that this track lasts. By the end of this opening track, I was left both confused and intrigued. I have no clue what the rest of this release is going to be like but I’m ready for the adventure.
“Miracle Mitch”, the second track on this release, has a much more traditional rock n’ roll vibe to it but there’s something very “The Amazing T-Bird” about it. I found the rushed vocals mixed with the constant motion of the instrumentation to create an almost panic throughout this song but then the chorus came in and brought a sense of calm. There’s a swirling motion in the distortion of the guitars throughout the chorus that I found absolutely captivating and fascinating. It had me absolutely hooked. Although, as mentioned, this track is completely different from the first one stylistically, the amount of power that comes through the chorus is just as deafening.
Third up on this quick EP is “The Final Testimony of Few Ming. We get a bit more of that other-worldly vibe that was laid out in the first track but with a little something extra. This song comes off as part of a video game or something like that with the talking that is heard over the electronic instrumentation. There’s a whole back story to this album that I really don’t want to give away because it’s brilliant but this track really leans into that storyline in a perfect way. Just think rogue scientist in 2062– That’s all I’m going to give you but this track will tell you more about that story and it’s absolutely perfect (and, when you get to the end of this review and check out the album, you can find the entire story at the very bottom of this review but, seriously, give the album a listen first!). Although I’m not a sci-fi type of person, I found myself super into this storyline after hearing this song.
“Revenge of the Astronaughts” brings an almost jazzy element to this album. I was in awe as this song started because, yet again, we have a completely different vibe and feeling yet something that is still clearly created by The Amazing T-Bird. The jazzy element turns into something down, dirty and bluesy within the first minute creating a truly immersive experience. There’s truly something about the tone of the guitar throughout this track that just completely whisked me away from the stress of trying to get packed up tonight. It was something that I so badly needed and could not thank The Amazing T-Bird enough for.
Closing out this EP is “The Coil”. One of the calmer tracks on the album I loved how this final track seemed to wrap up the story in such a perfect way but with a whole new vibe. This final track seems to focus on the more grungy aspect of this amazing musicians. It’s an element that can be heard slightly throughout the rest of the tracks but I feel like it’s really honed in on for this final song. Again, I was lost for words when it comes to the energy of this track and, although it wraps up the storyline that is ‘Becoming The King of Ghosts’, I feel like this final track left me wanting so much more from The Amazing T-Bird.
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**Here’s the full story of ‘Becoming The King of Ghosts’:
In 2062, a rogue scientist named Shi Ming begins work on a controversial and classified
project: The Astronaughts program. Developed through the use of neo-Buddhist and Taoist
techniques, as well as copious amounts of mind-altering substances, the Astronaughts program
seeks to make humans capable of unassisted space travel. Ming, being independently wealthy
and with no ties to any government, sets up shop on an unmarked island in the Pacific.
The program finds its test subjects in addicts from all over the world, from all walks of
life. They swarm to the island, in search of death, new life, or both. Once entrenched in the
program, most subjects, though able to leave at any time, stay until they are killed by the
torturous conditions or die from extreme overdose. Suicides are common in the first years of
the program. Subjects who leave die of extreme withdrawal.
The effect of these conditions on those who survive are promising: teleportation
abilities, extra sensory perception, superhuman physiology capable of withstanding the rigors
of open space, extreme mental compartmentalization to allow for massive data readings
wherever they went. But it will be years before the first candidates are stable enough for an
actual mission.
By 2114, Ming’s granddaughter, Few Ming, has taken over the project and the
Astronaughts are being prepped for their first extraterrestrial mission, a quick trip to the
Andromeda system. Lightspeed AI translators are necessary to communicate with the
explorers, as they function at speeds beyond human understanding. The Astronaughts, showing
cracks in their mental states, make the jump with no issues. They are scheduled to return in one
week.
Three weeks later, the governments of the world are descending upon the island where
the Astronaughts program was housed, determined to get answers. Rumors and unnamed
sources have painted a picture of modern horror, and Few Ming is days away from arrest.
The Astronaughts re-appear around this time, shocking the ground crew and Few Ming
herself. They appear disheveled and a few appear to be missing limbs. Surrounded by a
crackling energy of unknown source, the Astronaughts huddle together, seemingly oblivious to
their surroundings. One of them burns a message of unknown language into the hangar wall,
then eviscerates a member of the ground crew before all six of them disappear.
By 2119, the world has uncovered the atrocities that took place at th0e warehouse in
rural China. Few Ming has been sentenced and many of the scientists involved are also in
prison. The remaining surviving test subjects are given new leases on life, recovery and rehab,
housing, jobs. The rest of the world seems to be recovering from the shared trauma of the
Astronaughts.
Then a lowly code breaker in a basement in Washington finally translates that last
message.
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