Los Angles rapper Ghostemane released his most recent album N/O/I/S/E on October 10th 2018. The 29 minute long album haunts the listener through the mixture of many music genres. Some of the genres included would be industrial, noise, metal, punk and rap. Ghostemane first got a name for himself with his 2016 album Blackmage where his song “Venom” was his first hit. Ghostmane put no limitations on the intensity of his new album, he pushes his music to the absolute limits. Part of this would be the fact that he is an independent artist with no record label to hold back his potential. The variation in N/O/I/S/E is quite impressive in such a short album, however all of the songs flow together and create unity. Overall, Ghostemane’s album N/O/I/S/E is his best and versatile although rapping a significant amount less in this album.
N/O/I/S/E starts off with an eerie intro consisting of someone running in a field at night. Eventually Ghostemane begins singing as an industrial tune overlaps the sounds of a field. The intro fades nicely into the song “Nihil”, which is a more classic Ghostemane song where he utilizes the many different variations of his voice, both rapping and singing. That is also extremely evident in the song “Gatteka”. Songs like “Flesh” have a more hardcore vibe to them which Ghostemane said he grew up with. Hardcore themes have also been very present in his past works, but not to the degree in N/O/I/S/E. Ghostemane also will switch the entire tune and beat mid song. This is evident in the songs “Black Blood” and “Ballgag”. In both “The Singularity” and “Inside” their are strong leanings towards the industrial genre. Both songs have little to no rapping and have a Nine Inch Nails vibe. The album ends with a ballad called “My Heart of Glass” which is unlike Ghostmane to do. At the end of the song, the album returns full circle and ends with the sounds of someone running in a field at night.
Although unlike his previous album, Ghostemane’s album N/O/I/S/E shows his growth as an artist and sets his place in the music scene. N/O/I/S/E exemplified Ghostemane’s ability as a producer, rapper and singer. Although his new album is significantly more experimental and different than the previous, it only shows his advancement in the music scene.
Carrson Davis 