When "Risen" by Deflecting Ghosts comes on, one gets a feeling of being right in the midst of a storm that they have no (or does not want to have) way out. The guitars thunder and the voice of Luke Fitzgerald cuts through with pure emotion- rough, desperate, unbearable. You hear all the weight he is carrying as he charges the anarchy. Here, Hutchinson, Kansas, the three, Luke, his wife Rhema on bass, and a brother-in-law Austin on drums, (capturing the drums), convert their mutual past and internal struggles into something powerful and moving. I initially heard it at a troubled night and it struck somewhere in the depth, making that burden I had been carrying something powerful, even rebellious.
The sound itself is massive, as though it is spilling out of the speakers, shaking the walls. Produced by Jeremy Valentyne of New Years Day and Brandon Wolfe, the recording still lacks any drop of that home made heart. It is almost possible to imagine what this sounded like in the basement, where Luke plays guitar at eleven, and you can literally hear it in every room of the house. The beats of the drums are forceful, the bass is like a pulse which will not die, and the lines of Rhema follow it all with a quiet yet unyielding power. It also makes me think of the Chevelle combined with the precision of Breaking Benjamin, the construction of every note based on emotion, not refinement.
The most distinguishing thing is the message. Diving head first into the ghetto, "Risen" explores the corrupt world of society, the inability to discern the truth and the lack of it in people. However, most importantly, it is personal. It is about digging your own grave and surviving the ordeal, scratched but more powerful. You can feel the classical background and Luke learning it himself mixing up into something sincere, something human. Listening is a sort of relief, as it is like being there in the ruins of everything that you have gone through and finding that you have survived.
It is not another rock song, but a beat, a statement. When not to remain down, that is what survival sounds like, when it is called Risen. Deflecting Ghosts have created something that does not merely strike hard but it resonates. It is evidence that music created by struggle has a certain truth such as nothing can emulate. When it stopped my thoughts were hopelessly and fiercely energized, remembering that in the darkest clatter there is always a means of getting back on your feet.
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