When the Sun Sets is a five track EP and the very first creation of The Mouths of Ghosts. The EP is a real mood setter. There are no powerful melodies or catchy riffs, simply an overpowering ambience that flows from their songs and wraps around whichever room they are played in. Most of this atmosphere comes from the timbre of the voice and instruments of their Trip-Hop inspired style. Alla Seydalieva’s voice is a powerful whisper that can send shivers down your spine. It is dark and orgasmic yet has an innocent quality to it that is disarming. The guitar and bass are both raw and electronic and the mix produces a creepy yet organic sound.

The album's title track leaves us in no doubt as to the meaning of the band’s name.  The vocals are haunted and the guitar riffs are so eerie that the song resonates with the supernatural. This song would be a perfect act to be played at the famous Bronze nightclub in Buffy The Vampire Slayer straight after a performance by Angie Hart.

With such a sexual undertone, another vampire movie springs to mind with the dramatic World’s End- The third track on the EP.  If you said that this track was on the soundtrack of Underworld nobody would doubt you. It is strange how music creates a colour in your mind, and The Mouth of Ghosts are definitely on the dark spectrum.

On their website, they claim to be inspired by Deftones and The Cure. They could very well be compared to a softer, female version of Deftones and have even done a cover of Digital Bath for this EP. However, apart from the electronics of the accompanying music, I am yet to feel The Cure in this EP.

Though there are many strengths to When the Sun Sets, especially for a first creation, there is also something missing in this vaguely sexual cluster of songs.  Something in the tracks lacks progression.  Most of them are very repetitive and could do with perhaps a bit more musical development.

The Mouth of Ghosts also seem to repeat the same formula for the intro of their songs; an eerie guitar resonates for a couple of bars before a trip-hop beat jumps in with the vocals. This makes each song feel like less of a unique entity.

Aside from this, it must be said that this is a promising start for The Mouths of Ghosts and they are definitely a band to watch in the Trip-Hop scene.

“I have never met a vampire personally, but I don’t know what might happen tomorrow.” - Bela Lugosi

Lucy Macpherson-Mulcahy