Ghost Mountain - October Country MIXTAPE REVIEW - video Dailymotion

Metatube

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmBzOujPYno  Ghost Mountain's first solo project shows some potential.  More rap reviews: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP4CSgl7K7ormBIO138tYonB949PHnNcP  =================================== Subscribe: http://bit.ly/1pBqGCN  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theneedledrop  Official site: http://theneedledrop.com  Twitter: http://twitter.com/theneedledrop  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afantano  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theneedletok  TND Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theneedledrop  Videos edited by Jeremy and Anthony / posted by Austen ===================================  FAV TRACKS: MOULDER, STALKS, KISMET, HIGHWAY HEX, KEVLAR  LEAST FAV TRACK: DAMIEN  GHOST MOUNTAIN - OCTOBER COUNTRY / 2025 / HAUNTED MOUND / WITCH HOUSE, EMO RAP, COLDWAVE  6/10  Y'all know this is just my opinion, right?

Transcript

00:00Ah, hi everyone, Booth and Spooktano here, the internet's busiest music nerd, and it's time for a review of this new

00:08Ghost

00:10Mountain album, October Country. Here we have a new mixtape and the first release in a while from

00:18Illusive California rapper, singer, and songwriter Ghost Mountain, co-founder of the beloved

00:26Haunted Mound Record Label and Music Collective, known for being the home to some of the most relevant

00:34artists on the

00:36underground horror core circuit these days, if you could even call it that. There's Buckshot, there's Turnabout,

00:43there's also Cemetery, who we've covered on this channel a few times already. And what each of them do at its core is

00:52undeniably hip-hop on some level, with a southern trap flair.

00:56But it's often filtered through this very gritty, ultra distorted production and horror themed aesthetics,

01:03often nods as well to lots of underground and extreme metal music. Think something along the lines of like an old-school

01:13Norwegian black metal album crossed with a Trapaholics mixtape. And yeah, after that you will land

01:20somewhere close to what the Haunted Mound sound is. And despite efforts to really diversify it,

01:27especially on Cemetery's last full-length LP, Bloody Angel,

01:30it still remains a pretty singular vibe with a niche but intense appeal for those who fuck with it. And

01:37Ghost Mountain, despite being a longtime affiliate of the Haunted Mound Collective, in recent years

01:44he has been one of the least visible, which has generated a lot of rumors and

01:49questions among fans for years as to why. I mean, his last major project was a collaboration with

01:55Cemetery back in 2020, Hundred Acre Wrist.

01:58And he hasn't really put out a formal mixtape or album to my knowledge since then.

02:03But now we have October Country, which also makes for Ghost Mountain's solo debut as well.

02:09So you could say this moment has been in the making for a while, long-awaited even.

02:14But even with having time to really marinate,

02:18it doesn't prevent this album from being hit with at least a little bit of debut-itis and just kind of generally lacking

02:25definition among the wide variety of influences it operates in. I would say the biggest surprise, though,

02:31I was hit with going into this record was just how kind of smooth the overall sound of it is. In its own way,

02:36it's pretty palatable for a Haunted Mound-affiliated release. It's not quite as caked in

02:42sunburnt distortion and punishingly blown-out drums. So yeah, that was unexpected, but maybe not

02:49necessarily

02:51adventurous sonically in the grander scheme of things. Because I feel like October Country offers a lot of derivative variations of sounds that I

02:59have heard quite a few times before, even though it has been a minute.

03:03I mean, Ghost Mountain is most definitely more of a crooner than a rapper for sure. And a lot of the vocal melodies on this

03:09record have a kind of emo rap quality to them.

03:12But if they were sort of slowed down and backed with very woozy, downright dreary trap beats that had a kind of

03:20creepy and murky tone to them. Heavy on the synths and really bringing a goth twist,

03:25I would say. In some ways, it reminds me of often overlooked internet age acts that operate in the goth field like Grave Babies or

03:34similarly gloomy rappers with also very online fan bases such as Bones. And

03:40surprisingly, in discourse I have read around this record, I've seen some people here and there bring up the likes of

03:47Salem. Which, sure, I could see a grim, goth, rap, witch house parallel going on here.

03:54Look, call this album what you want, honestly. What you can really rely on the tracks held within this record for are

04:01a lot of 808 style drums, very dense, syrupy, slow beats in production, caked in a lot of dust and grime,

04:09ghoulish lead vocals that are kind of heavily treated with effects and layers. Which I do think there is something to

04:16this combination of sounds and ideas.

04:19But it's still a pretty basic fusion of all of these things and it doesn't make for the most versatile

04:24listening experience across the entirety of the album. Even if Ghost Mountain has a knack for catchy vocal melodies

04:31here and there on tracks like The Opener or Stalks or Kevlar. Because in its best moments,

04:37October Country is a record that is fun, is

04:40intoxicating, is subtly eerie, and also kind of gives up the rap pretense and essentially starts dropping tracks that are

04:48kind of like DIY dance demos for Goth Night at the club. Songs like the title track and Wayside as well as

04:55Highway Hex, the much more superior of the two Cemetery tracks on this album, all kind of fit into that lane.

05:02Kismet as well goes in more of a rock direction.

05:05It's kind of like this warped drum machine slacker rock piece with very sloshy

05:10synths and chords that are equally dark and psychedelic too.

05:13But as decent as some of these highlights are, I feel like there are a lot of options out there if you're looking for something

05:19that scratches exactly these itches. And that it's gonna take some work for Ghost Mountain to really generate something that is going to

05:26best any of that competition or transcend the audience of

05:31Haunted Mound fans that may not even know that they're really just like kind of listening to goth music on this thing.

05:37Also, I haven't really addressed the low points on the album of which there are

05:42several. Like, for one, the deadpan moaning vocal delivery

05:46that Ghost Mountain specializes in here only goes so far and gets kind of tiresome after a while. Also, the

05:52pacing and tempo on By the Flame, especially given this vocal style, is absolutely

05:59excruciating. Plus, the production on Damien is horrendously messy, especially when compared to everything else on the album beat-wise.

06:06But yeah, overall, I feel like October Country is

06:09a start, definitely a start of sorts. But is it the best sounding album I have heard within the

06:17respective genre lanes it operates in? Not really. Is it one of the best records I think I've heard from the

06:24Haunted Mound collective? Not really either.

06:27I mean, it's definitely cool and exciting to hear something slightly different from the label and to

06:33really see Ghost Mountain getting back into the swing of things after so long. In that respect,

06:38I understand the hype behind this release for sure. But beyond that,

06:41I don't know if this album is really bringing much else to the table, which is why I'm currently kind of underwhelmed,

06:48but still looking forward to hopefully more growth down the road on future records.

06:53I'm feeling a strong 5-2, a light 6 on this one. Transition, have you given this album a listen?

07:00Did you love it? Did you hate it? What would you rate it? You're the best, you're the best.

07:03What should I review next? Hit the like if you like, please subscribe, and please don't cry. Hit the bell as well.

07:08Over here next to my head is another video that you can check out. Hit that up or the link to subscribe to the channel.

07:13Anthony Fantano, Ghost Mountain, forever.

Ghost Mountain - October Country MIXTAPE REVIEW

Category

Transcript

Recommended