Ghost Ship Octavius Lands at Studio Seven

Ghost Ship Octavius at Studio Seven (Photo: Mike Baltierra)

Ghost Ship Octavius, a Seattle-based melodic progressive metal group, kicked off the first night of their tour in their home town of Seattle at Studio Seven. The band features Matt Wicklund (God Forbid, Himsa, Warrel Dane) on guitar, drummer Van Williams (Nevermore, Ashes of Ares, Pure Sweet Hell), bassist Dagna Silesia (Warrel Dane, The People Now), and vocalist Adōn Fanion. On this night, they were joined by Parker Lundgren (Queensryche) on additional lead and rhythm guitar.

Local rockers Thread the Sky got things started. This three piece group combined genres such as jazz and funk to create their own brand of progressive metal. They put on a solid performance to warm up the folks in the crowd who made it to the venue early on a Friday night.

Next up were the Disciples of Dissent. Don’t let their Blues Brothers style of dress and appearance fool you, this band put on one hard hitting set consisting of elements of punk, metal and rock. Their hard driving rhythms and beats set the tone for the rest of the evening.

Third on the bill were melodic rockers Mechanism, who tore through a blazing set consisting of many of fan favorite originals. The band had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hand and on this night, they were on point.

Finally the headliners of the evening hit the stage with their own high energy progressive heavy metal. Ghost Ship Octavius played through each of the selections on their eponymous LP. Keeping up with the theme of a phantom ship (which is a ship with no living crew aboard), the stage was illuminated in green and blue. The band kicked into a hard rocking set, starting with the excellent opening track “Sea Storm” and working through “Mills of the Gods,” “Silence,” “Pendulum,” and “In Dreams.” Throughout the course of their set, the phantom ship at sea theme was in full effect, with fog and ‘sea foam’ keeping the crowd heavily entertained. The band also let it be known that they were shooting footage for an upcoming video release. Ghost Ship Octavius put on a solid performance with great stage presence. They certainly did not disappoint. Wicklund and Lundgren complimented each other’s playing style perfectly. Williams and Silesia made for an exceptional rhythm section, laying down the driving beat, and Fanion’s vocals and added guitar playing sounded superb and he did not miss a note.

This was the opening night of Ghost Ship Octavius’ North American tour. More information can be found on their website.

Set List
Sea Storm
Mills of the Gods
Bloodcaster
Alive
Fate is Blind
Silence
Pendulum
Burn Away
In Dreams
Epitaph
Saturn and Skies