We’ve been pretty excited about new band Ghost Ship Octavius, which started out as a side project for guitarists Christopher Amott (formerly of Arch Enemy) and Matt Wicklund (God Forbid) and former Nevermore drummer Van Williams. Things have definitely changed within the band in the last few weeks, however. First off, God Forbid disbanded a few weeks ago, so all of a sudden, Matt’s side project became a little more full time. But last week, Amott announced that he was leaving the project via his Facebook page, and in posting that, the band also mentioned that bassist Sara Claudius has left as well. That hasn’t slowed the band down, however, as they released a song via YouTube this past Sunday, stating the following on Facebook:
Hello everyone! There have been some important developments with GSO.
Last Week Chris Amott announced his departure from Ghost Ship Octavius on his Official Facebook site. Chris posted the following:
“Hey guys and gals,
A little update- I’ve decided to step away from the Ghost Ship Octavius project. So, I am no longer involved with that. Best of luck to the rest of the guys.”We wish Chris and Sara Claudius best of luck as well. Ghost Ship Octavius is NOT ending. We are just beginning and continuing to move forward despite our recent departures. We are very excited about the music we are putting together.
The rest of Amott’s post, which wasn’t on GSO’s Facebook page, read “I’m focusing entirely on a new Armageddon album. We are in rehearsals at the moment. There’s a lot of news to be announced, new members and so forth. We have almost completed writing the album. That’s it for now.”
Meanwhile the song that Ghost Ship put up, “Saturn and Skies,” is intriguing. It’s a mix of prog, power metal and groove, starting out with some Meshuggah-like rhythms, then sounding Nevermore-esque once 17 year-old newcomer Adon Fanion starts singing. And while the song was recut without Amott, it still sounds pretty shreddy. It’s definitely unique sounding enough that many will probably take notice.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/wkonPyn6xNM[/youtube]
