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Album Review: Silent Civilian ‘Ghost Stories’

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16 years ago

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After four years (almost to the day), Silent Civilian has released their second album, ‘Ghost Stories’. It’s a fairly solid record but not without it’s fair share of issues. Read on after the break to get an in-depth review of ‘Ghost Stories’.
silentcivilianghoststories

The album opens up with ‘Let Us Prey’, a fast paced, frenzied song that has vocalist Jonny Santos (ex-Spineshank) barking out lyrics in a very rhythmic, staccato style during the verse before switching to a more ‘clean’ style during the chorus. The song sometimes becomes a bit overcrowded by the speed and amount of music going on, falling into muddiness. A curious event happens during the second part of the guitar solo where the entire solo comes in on only the left side. It’s a bit odd to hear it in only one ear and the solo ends with a bend that is just little sharp and out of scale. Still, the solo has some tasty shredding. The amount of low end is also somewhat overpowering. This problem could easily have been managed if some more top end was allowed to shine forth, but alas, ‘Let Us Prey’ (and the rest of the album) seems to have a strange cap where higher frequencies (guitarists should think of this as the ‘Presence’ knob on your amp) are kept low and as a result, there is no sparkle.
The production of the album is a mixed bag. The guitars are thick and mixed evenly but have a bit of fizziness that doesn’t allow for the tightest of tones. The bass is present in the form of low end. It’s hard to make out individual bass notes unless the bass is doing a run on it’s own. It’s a very round sound that is easily felt rather than heard. The vocals come through fine although there are a few instances where it seems like Jonny is having trouble hitting some notes and a few out of tune lines are left in. The drums are their own mixed bag. The cymbals could stand to have a bit more sizzle and sparkle but are mixed in nicely. The toms and bass drum have a solid thump and are mixed evenly across the field. The snare confuses me as sometimes it’s at a perfect level with great attitude and bite to it and at other times it’s low in the mix and seems to lose it’s aggressive snap. 
The album as a whole is just shy of being generic: There are enough headbang-worthy moments and driving riffs that stand out to warrant a listen. Also, drummer Ryan Halpert does some clever little turns and tempo-changes that makes the album a bit more exciting. Overall, though, this album is good for a few spins and not too much more than that. 
3 out of 5 skulls
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‘The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only Live’ Concert Event to Make Streaming Debut Next Month

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1 week ago

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July 14, 2026

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The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only Live

AMC has announced that The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only LIVE, the standing-room-only performance celebrating AMC’s premiere of its newly-released The Vampire Lestat at New York City’s iconic Beacon Theatre last month, will debut on streaming.

The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only LIVE begins streaming on AMC+ on August 23.

Ahead of its streaming premiere, fans can preview the concert event, featuring original songs from series composer Daniel Hart and performed by Sam Reid, in Hall H at Comic Con International on July 24. 

Our own Daniel Kurland attended the special event, highlighting how electric the Immortal Vampire is on stage: “It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.”

Based on Anne Rice‘s The Vampire Chronicles book series, The Vampire Lestat is the rock and roll-centric third season of AMC’s “Interview with the Vampire” created by showrunner Rolin Jones.

The Vampire Lestat goes on an electric multi-city tour while being haunted by “muses” from his wild and rebellious past. As his band’s popularity and star power rises, so does Lestat’s influence over vampires and humans alike, leaving others to contend with Lestat’s power in the face of the Great Conversion, an unnatural surge in the vampire population.

Jacob Anderson, Assad Zaman, Eric Bogosian, Delainey Hayles and Jennifer Ehle star with Reid. Executive producers include Jones, Mark Johnson, Hannah Moscovitch, the late Anne Rice, and her son Christopher Rice.

The series finale airs this Sunday, July 19, on AMC and AMC+.

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