The Ghost Next Door seem well aware of the explosive star power of their lead singer and guitarist, Gary Wendt. He has an electrifying, grating presence on the mic, channeling Rob Halford, Machine Head’s Rob Flynn, and Mike Howe of Metal Church, bringing power you just cannot ignore. The songs are all clearly configured around the vocal melodies. His technique is half shouting, half singing - - but damn does he make it work.

Their sound is almost radio-friendly, but possibly a bit too strong and with a bit too much use of the tritone for sensitive mainstream ears. Wendt is a former student of Joe Satriani, but I really don’t hear any similarity to Satch in his playing or writing, as can be identified in Kirk Hammett, Steve Vai, Larry Lalonde, and some of his other notable proteges.
Simply put: The Ghost Next Door are a straight-ahead Metal band brimming with anger and socially aware lyrics, calling out all manner of human behaviors and societal trends that piss them off. Among the best on the record are the scathing opener, “Deadworld,” “Doubt,” “American Nightmare,” and the best of them all: “LCD.” The latter is one that’s written with integrity and a metric ton of spite, but also a killer hook, that will get plenty of replays for me. “The Sacrifice Person” and “Stop Here On Red” make for a pretty strong 1-2 punch to close out the record.
There’s a hell of a lot to like here, but as I said up top - - the primary appeal is Gary Wendt’s cast iron voice. Check out The Ghost Next Door.