One of the most exciting elements of metal music is the wide variety of subgenres that work their way into a given band’s sound. Take djent, a style of progressive metal pioneered by Swedish headbangers Meshuggah and exemplified by palm-muted, low-pitch staccato guitar tones. Ghost Iris, billed as the most-streamed Danish metal band of 2016, appears poised to emerge as another major player in this expanding metal specialty. On the band’s second album, Blind World, songs such as “Save Yourself” and “Pinnacle” mix clean and extreme vocals with catchy arrangements, tricky riffs and elements of funk and tech metal to create an invigorating listening experience propelled by Jesper Vicencio Gün’s often harsh voice. This stuff ain’t easy to play, and while Ghost Iris could introduce a little more variety into its writing, Blind World serves a solid entry point into the djent-metal scene.
