Metal Underground.com

Midnight Ghost Train has never strayed from the heavily blues-influenced rock sound, but “Buffalo” has a much different mood than other albums the band has released. This album is upbeat and fun, where other albums delved into a darker realm of pain and suffering. However, this does not mean that Midnight Ghost Train has lost its edge either; parts of these songs conjure up images of COC and Soilent Green.

Vocalist/guitarist Steve Moss still does his best impression of a possessed Southern preacher throughout the album. He goes from the intense and scary guy in the sexually violent “Southern Belle,” about a man getting ready to attack a woman in her bedroom, to the genteel gentlemen singing a rendition of the old folk song “Cotton Fields” with only his band mates’ responses stomping and clapping along to back him. That particular song also has a very nice ending where Steve just plays a blues guitar solo in the studio with some rustling in the background to make it seem spontaneous and real.

Steve’s heavily distorted guitar forces out the melody as David Kimmel keeps the low end booming with bass on “Henry,” “Spacefaze,” and aptly named trippy song “Tom’s Trip,” which has a psychedelic-influenced opening. That doesn’t last long before going into a sad, soulful melody, and then all out craziness. Drummer Brandon Burghart keeps the pace the entire time, and he has a great rock style with lots of cymbal for a noticeable compliment to the grunginess of the guitar.

Every part of this album is Southern rock to the core, but no listener should feel alienated by that fact. “Buffalo” definitely shows MGT’s versatility for mood and once again proves that the band has incredible talent.