Review by Paul Monkhouse for MPM
What would Christmas be without a ghostly tale around a roaring fire, the chilling feeling that creeps into your mind being battled by the heat of the burning wood.
Perfect for this Winter season, ‘The Ghost of Terror Bay’ is even more unsettling as it’s based on the true story of a failed expedition in 1848 by two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, to find a Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
The trip took them through the North Pole where both vessels became icebound, the elements leading the crews into madness and cannibalism and it’s a springboard from this that the track comes.
With the narrative spoken by The Blackheart Orchestra’s Chrissy Mostyn and music by Jacob Holm-Lupo of White Willow and Donner, Martin Kielty’s eerie tale comes to life in both a beautiful and unsettling way.
The tender, starry eyed wonder of Mostyn’s voice is the perfect accompaniment to the lush score, the whole an otherworldly treat that is as beautiful sonically to listen to as it heart breaking to relate.
There has always been an interest in the supernatural, ancient tales of things no human mind can truly fathom and this brings all the right elements together into something that is outstandingly different.
Put another log on the fire, draw your chair closer and get lost for a while in this world of snow, spectres and longing.
