Brain-throttling prog from Hungary. Ghost Toast likes to establish its theme early and then proceed to plow it under. But as heavy as these songs get, nothing gets lost. It's more a sense of increasing saturation, more in a sense of the inevitable rather than the standard anthemic buildup.

Ghost Toast Shade Without Color (Inverse Records)

Perhaps most impressive is how much each member is able to stay distinct as each song builds its road toward the apocalypse. To create a sound this full while leaving space is difficult, but Ghost Toast has clearly perfected this approach over the years.

To be clear, if instrumental heavy prog is not your thing, Ghost Toast will not convert you. I don't think it has any intention of doing that. This is music for those who wish to commune, and it is a most impressive mass.

These are long, loud songs filled with virtuosic ideas and playing. Despite that, this is also one of the least pretentious albums I've heard this year. Ghost Toast is interested in telling its stories and talking about its ideas strictly within the bounds of its music. Of course, those bounds are extremely loose. Quite the symphony of the mind.

Jon Worley