Spirit Adrift: Ghost At The Gallows

With Ghost at the Gallows, Spirit Adrift delivered one of the strongest records of their career. Released in 2023 through Century Media Records, the album sees Nate Garrett expanding the band’s traditional heavy metal and doom foundations into something broader, more emotional and increasingly difficult to categorise.

Death, grief and loss sit at the heart of the record. Garrett has described the album as navigating a world where ghosts exist through trauma and grief, with the songs ultimately touching on the different stages of the grieving process. Yet Ghost at the Gallows isn’t simply a collection of slow, mournful doom songs. Its eight tracks move through traditional heavy metal, doom, speed metal, Southern rock and quieter acoustic passages.

The magnificent “Give Her to the River” opens proceedings with more than seven minutes of atmosphere and enormous riffs before “Barn Burner” kicks the record into a considerably higher gear. “Hanged Man’s Revenge” continues that momentum, demonstrating just how comfortably Spirit Adrift can move between classic metal melody and outright aggression.

“These Two Hands” provides one of the album’s most emotional moments, while “Death Won’t Stop Me” and “I Shall Return” deliver some of Garrett’s strongest traditional heavy metal songwriting. By the time the record reaches “Siren of the South” and the epic title track, the scope of the album becomes clear. This is Spirit Adrift taking the foundations established on earlier releases and pushing them considerably further.

The recording also captures more of a genuine band feel than previous Spirit Adrift albums. Garrett and drummer Mike Arellano tracked guitar and drums live together, specifically aiming for a more dynamic and human performance. Tom Draper contributes lead guitar, while David Wiley adds cello to “These Two Hands.” The album was mixed and mastered by Zeuss.

Ghost at the Gallows is heavy metal built with genuine respect for the genre’s history without becoming another exercise in nostalgia. The riffs are huge, the melodies stick and the songwriting carries enough emotional weight to make this much more than another traditional metal record.