Review: Unborn Ghost - Airs Of Contempt And Derision

Denver's Brian M. Clark is a musician, writer, and artist, and may be long-suffering from altitude sickness. I'm unsure of the symptoms for that particular affliction, but something has to explain the mind-warped music that Clark has put together as Unborn Ghost on the debut LP Airs Of Contempt And Derision.

Through eleven tracks in about 45 minutes, the listener is guided through a funhouse of experimental rock and roll. "Sketch One" acts as an instrumental lure to start the album and when "A Lamentable Series of Poor Life Decisions" rolls in as the second track, its title immediately feels like a warning. The chanted refrain of "you're such a fucking mess" loops to get its point across. Someone is a fucking mess and I think it might be the man behind the band. For what's worth, Unborn Ghost leaves a lot of space within it's music for the mind to explore. It's in long passages of vocal free post-rock sections where the album feels like a well managed, but slightly askew acid trip.

"White Guilt Parade" serves as a sobering moment both in its standard rock, almost country, and subdued rockabilly delivery of what is a humorous attack on woke culture. Interestingly, that may be where a lot of listeners jump off the Airs Of Contempt And Derision ride, but it's only just beginning as the band rolls into the rest of the record. The album lurches into doom metal territory with the next track "The Worm At The Demon Core," but immediately comes up for air in the following song.

It would be dramatic to call Airs Of Contempt And Derision a difficult listen, but it fits. There's a cinematic quality to the record and there is depth abounds, but what may act as a deterrent is the variety. Jumping into Unborn Ghost might be too obscure for a casual music fan. On the contrary, fans of noise-rock and more experimental (not prog) styles of guitar music, will likely latch onto what is truly an enveloping listen. Perhaps the circumstances of exposure will matter when play is pushed on the first listen, but the ride is worth the currency, whatever it costs.

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