L-R: Paul, Sophia, Sam, Max
- In the middle of
the world I stand, unbreakable.
Take a leap of faith,
create your own fate, unshakable.
A Greco-Italian electronic/industrial/symphonic rock/metal band conceived in Japan and currently based in the UK, Season of Ghosts describes itself as "a spiritually groundbreaking intergalactic music project, dedicated to the love for the unseen and film soundtracks". The band was founded by singer Sophia Aslanides in 2013 and takes the hybrid metal trance fusion of her former band Blood Stain Child's εpsilon to a whole new level by adding orchestral and industrial elements.
The band dropped their debut The Human Paradox in December 2014, to massive fanfare and some critical acclaim, and a Remix Album Remixing the Paradox within a year of release. They decided to take a break for the next couple years, their only release during the period being "Surreal", a collaboration with Russian industrial metal act Fatal FE (formerly Fail Emotions), who had previously contributed a track to Remixing the Paradox. In 2018, the band worked on and in October of that year released their sophomore A Leap Of Faith, showcasing a more consistent sound and more prominent vocals from Sophia.
Members
Current lineup:
- Sophia Aslanides — vocals (2013-)
- Zombie Sam — guitars, orchestral arrangement (2013-)
- Max Buell — drums (2013-)
Former members:
- Paul Dark Brown — bass (2013-2019)
Discography
- The Human Paradox (2014)
- Remixing the Paradox (2015)
- A Leap of Faith (2018)
Season of Tropes
- Album Intro Track: The Human Paradox kicks off with "Nothing Disappears Without a Trace".
- A Leap of Faith has "The Road So Far".
- Awesome McCoolname: Zombie Sam.
- Sophia has an interesting case: being Greek, her last name is normally in the genitive form (Aslanidou), but she chose to tweak it to Aslanides (her last name, as is) because it sounds better.
Her first name alone doubles as a Meaningful Name thanks to the bits of wisdom she imparts on her lyrics and on social media.
- Sophia has an interesting case: being Greek, her last name is normally in the genitive form (Aslanidou), but she chose to tweak it to Aslanides (her last name, as is) because it sounds better.
- Badass Boast: the hooks of "Genesis - The Phoenix Syndrome" and "Dream; Paralysis".
- Broken Record: The line "Life is so strange" repeats during the back half of "A Place to Call Home".
- Also "Leave the light on, breathe, breathe" in "Dream; Paralysis". If you listen carefully, Sophia is whispering all the repetitions herself instead of it being just her voice looping over and over before the final hook.
- 'We are, we are / Like fire in the wind' in "How the Story Ends".
- Concept Album: The Human Paradox is a loose one, tied together by contradictions written all over the lyrics.
- Averted in A Leap of Faith, but the Pep-Talk Song and Self Empowerment Anthem themes almost give this impression.
- Costume Porn: While working on their second album, the band started endorsing London ethnopunk fashion brand Psylo. The band show off their nifty getup particularly in the video for "A Leap of Faith".
- Cover Version: SOG's first release ever was a cover of "Come, Little Children".
- For Christmas 2016 they covered "Sally's Song" from The Nightmare Before Christmas.
- For Christmas 2016 they covered "Sally's Song"
- Elegant Gothic Lolita: Sophia. Behold.◊
- Come A Leap of Faith era, she trades her loli wardrobe for a more ethnopunk look.
- Epic Rocking: "[NE]:MESIS - The Kiss of Justice", "Beautiful Eternal Things", and "Reincarnation" all last under six minutes.
- Half the tracklist of Remixing the Paradox last above five minutes, the longest being "Quantum - Through the Looking Glass" (Neuroticfish Remix) coming in at seven.
- Eyepatch of Power: Sophia in the music video for "A Leap of Faith" combines this with Peek-a-Bangs.
- Indecipherable Lyrics: Due to her breathy singing in The Human Paradox, Sophia's words tend to blend into the music itself more than stand out. She averts this later on, but sometimes has to battle the fortissimo of the music.
- In the Hood: Sophia in the cover◊ of A Leap of Faith.
- Laughing Mad: "Beautiful Eternal Things", pre-first verse, ending with a short Careful with That Axe.
- Lonely Piano Piece: "You Are Not Your Pain", the epilogue to A Leap of Faith.
- Lyrical Dissonance: "Listen" is quite upbeat and bouncy for a song that screams "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
- Male Band, Female Singer: Season of Ghosts is Sophia's brainchild first and foremost, but come A Leap of Faith the project has begun to sound more like a band.
- Mohs Scale of Rock and Metal Hardness: Due to their tendency to insert a Subdued Section or two into the heaviest, most distorted songs possible, SOG tends to wander up and down the scale, their rockier side reaching 9 with "Quantum" and their more electronic side peaking at 10 with "Surreal".
- Mood Whiplash: "How the Story Ends" and "Quantum - Through the Looking Glass", among others, have gentle intros that then shift into harsh electronic/metal sections counterbalanced by Sophia's vocals.
- Neoclassical Punk Zydeco Rockabilly: "...combining massive riffs, harsh electronics and powerful, compelling vocals, through the eerie spectrum of a sci-fi, horror movie."
- Genre-Busting: Heck. This band has been described as electronic rock, Gothic Metal, Symphonic Metal, Industrial Metal, among others. Thanks to Italian and Japanese influences as well, the band instrumentation alone can almost pass for Melodic Death Metal and/or Visual Kei depending on the song.
- Genre Roulette: THP starts out as straight electronic metal during the first few tracks but after a Surprisingly Gentle Song takes a turn for diverse. Remixing the Paradox has SOG and friends playing more of a style roulette, with most of its tracks falling under EDM.
- New Sound Album: A Leap of Faith has a more consistent mishmash of Industrial Metal, arena rock (especially the latter half), and Visual Kei.
- Ominous Music Box Tune: "Nothing Disappears Without a Trace" and "The Road So Far". They like to do this on an Album Intro Track.
- Pep-Talk Song/Self Empowerment Anthem: Numerous.
- Performance Video: "Dream; Paralysis".
- "A Place to Call Home" alternates between Dress Rehearsal Video and the band hovering Turin in a helicopter.
- Pūnct'uatìon Sh'akër: "[NE:]MESIS" and "ASTERO[:ID]". "Dream; Paralysis" is subtler.
- Reincarnation Romance / Star-Crossed Lovers: "Reincarnation".
- Shout-Out:
- The Matrix: "Time Travellers" samples Neo's final speech in the film.
- "Quantum - Through the Looking Glass" has Sophia herself channeling Morpheus before the final chorus.
- The pre-verse to "Beautiful Eternal Things" takes a sample off the climax of The X-Files: Fight the Future.
- "The Road to Acheron".
- "There and Back Again".
- The Matrix: "Time Travellers" samples Neo's final speech in the film.
- Siamese Twin Songs: "Dreaming in the Gray Lands" and "The Road to Acheron".
- Single Stanza Song: "Surreal".
- Soprano and Gravel: Downplayed in The Human Paradox. Sophia does occasional harsh background vocals in tracks like "Genesis" and "Beautiful Eternal Things". Averted later on.
- Stage Names: Zombie Sam plays it straight. His real name is Sam Domenico.
- Sophia plays with this. She used to be credited mononymously in her BSC days, while other collaborations would credit her with last name (Aslanidou). Not long after founding Season of Ghosts she has taken to using her professional name, Sophia Aslanides, a bit more often.
- Paul Dark Brown (real name: Paolo Bruno).
- Surprisingly Gentle Song: a few from The Human Paradox, including the Title Track.
- Translated Cover Version: "A Place to Call Home" has a Japanese-chorus version at the tail end of A Leap of Faith.
- Walking the Earth: "A Leap of Faith", with some Scenery Porn on the side.
- "World of Cardboard" Speech: "Genesis" and "[NE]:MESIS" are built on this trope.
