Ghost Thief

Ghost Thief is the eighth studio album by the Christian metal band, Living Sacrifice. It is their second album produced by Jeremiah Scott.

Ghost Thief
Studio album by Living Sacrifice
Released	November 11, 2013[1]
Recorded	November 2012
Genre	Heavy metal[2] Christian metal[3] thrash metal[4] metalcore[5]
Length	45:15
Label	Solid State
Producer	Jeremiah Scott
Living Sacrifice chronology
The Infinite Order (2010) Ghost Thief (2013)

Writing and recording

The band toured in support of their prior album, The Infinite Order, for three years before starting up work on recording a followup.[4] The band chose to once again work with music producer Jeremiah Scott, with whom the band had collaborated on their previous album.[6] The band started with writing the music, and then wrote lyrics once the music was already established.[3]

Themes and composition

The album's title Ghost Thief is meant as "the personification of death".[7] Conceptually, the album's lyrics explore the fleeting nature of life, the idea of an afterlife, and how death can be viewed as either "friend or foe" by different people in different circumstances.[7] The tracks "Ghost Thief" and "Sudden" specifically were both inspired by family members of Lance Garvin and Rocky Gray, who died unexpectedly.[7]

The album consists of songs that are mid to fast tempo thrash metal and groove metal,[7] but also features more melodic guitar-work than prior albums as well.[2] Many tracks on the album do not use standard verse-chorus song structures.[4]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
CCM Magazine	[8]
HM Magazine	[9]
Indie Vision Music	[10]
Jesus Freak Hideout	[4] [4]

Specifying in a three star review by CCM Magazine, Matt Conner recognizes, "With blistering songs like 'Sudden' and the title track, it's clear these guys aren't hanging it up any time soon."[8] David Stagg, indicating in a three star review from HM Magazine, realizes, "The album succeeds on most fronts, but if we’re judging on all the merits in between, the bulk of the tracks blend in."[9] Signaling in a four star review for Jesus Freak Hideout, Timothy Estabrooks responds, "it is an excellent album filled with many masterfully-performed tracks and only a couple of disappointments."[4] Lee Brown, mentioning for Indie Vision Music in a five star review, reports, "Ghost Thief is simply a powerhouse album that fans who have been waiting three long years to get their hands on will not mind coming back to in the coming year/s until the next great Living Sacrifice masterpiece is released."[10] The second opinion by Aaron Lambert from Jesus Freak Hideout, where he rated the album four and a half stars, depicts, "Ghost Thief becomes yet another Christian metal classic from the godfathers of the genre itself."[4]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Screwtape" (featuring Ryan Clark of Demon Hunter)	5:35
2.	"Ghost Thief"	4:41
3.	"The Reaping"	3:26
4.	"Straw Man"	3:46
5.	"Sudden"	4:46
6.	"Mask"	4:49
7.	"American Made"	5:26
8.	"Before"	4:31
9.	"Your War"	3:56
10.	"Despair" (featuring Dave Peters of Throwdown)	4:19
Total length:		45:15

Personnel

Living Sacrifice Bruce Fitzhugh - lead vocals, guitar Rocky Gray - lead guitar Arthur Green - bass, vocals Lance Garvin - drums, percussion Guest musicians Ryan Clark - vocals on track 1 Dave Peters - vocals on track 10 Nick Hipa - lead guitar on track 3 Jeremiah Scott - acoustic intro on track 1 T.D. Benton - additional percussion on track 2 Josh Childers, Dustinn Lowery, Brad Hartley, Chris Bazor, Adam Phillips, and Loren Tew - Viking gang vocals

Production Recorded by Jeremiah Scott, at Jeremiah Scott Production Produced by Jeremiah Scott, Living Sacrifice Mixed by Steve Blackmon Art Cover art by Travis Smith Additional design by Ryan Clark of Invisible Creature Photos by Jeremiah Scott

Charts

Chart (2013)	Peak position[11]
U.S. Billboard Christian Albums	23
U.S. Billboard Hard Rock Albums	20
U.S. Billboard Top Heatseekers	9

References

1. "Solid State Records|Living Sacrifice|Ghost Thief". Solid State Records. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
2. OverkillExposure. "Living Sacrifice Frontman Talks 'Ghost Thief'". Metalunderground.com. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
3. "Exclusive: Living Sacrifice Premiere New Song, "Ghost Thief"". revolvermag.com. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
4. Weaver, Michael; Lambert, Aaron (November 10, 2013). "Living Sacrifice, "Ghost Thief" Review". Jesus Freak Hideout. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
5. "Living Sacrifice Conjure Up the "Ghost Thief" - MetalSucks". MetalSucks. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
6. wookubus. "Living Sacrifice To Release New Album In November, Demon Hunter & Throwdown Frontmen To Guest". Theprp.com. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
7. "Living Sacrifice To Release 'Ghost Thief' In November - Blabbermouth.net". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
8. Conner, Matt (December 3, 2013). "Living Sacrifice: Ghost Thief". CCM Magazine. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
9. Stagg, David. "Living Sacrifice - Ghost Thief". HM Magazine. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
10. Brown, Lee (November 7, 2013). "Living Sacrifice - Ghost Thief". Indie Vision Music. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
11. Allmusic - 'Ghost Thief' Awards.