I'm sucker for a solid single, two good songs back-to-back... what more do you need?
Britain's steampunk stalwart's have released a strong new single with "The Last Steampunk Waltz" b/w "Hand of Glory".
The opening title track is a harpischord fueled driving dance dirge that builds into a nice guitar crescendo. Ghostfire's new vocalist has a goth-seasoned voice that's a wonderful fit for the band's sound and this song in particular.
The second piece, "Hand of Glory", is an 80s post-punk rocker with Hammond(-like) organ at its heart. I've have to admit that electric organ is always a winner with me and it doesn't fail to grab my attention here.
Taken together the full single evokes the "Grimly Fiendish" era (The) Damned, but not quite as over-the-top as that seminal band.
I really think that Ghostfire are onto something here, and if these two new songs were chemically wedded to the two strongest tracks from their previous EP ("Vaudevillian" and "Ghostways of Paris") they'd have the start to an entertaining full-length.
