Love has fueled creative work for centuries. But lately, something’s shifted. Artists across every medium are finally confronting what used to get swept under the rug: dark love. The kind that destroys. The kind that doesn’t just hurt—it obliterates. Love as a weapon. Love as poison. This version strips away the romance and exposes something genuinely frightening.

That’s the foundation Love Ghost built Gas Mask Wedding on. This is the album where romance and toxicity intertwine in an unsettling dance. It’s an uncomfortable take on a feeling we’re supposed to celebrate. Jarring, even repulsive at first. But look around. History’s full of it. So is the present. Love turning toxic happens everywhere, all the time. Add jealousy, add codependency, add fear of loss or control issues. Different catalysts, same ending: destruction. Often brutal.

Sixteen tracks. That’s ambitious for such specific subject matter. Each one functions as its own story, a distinct chapter in this exploration of love as a destructive force. Together, they create something genuinely epic—a full examination of dark, destructive love through different emotional lenses.

“Car Crash” opens the album unexpectedly. It’s tender. Fragile. Captivating in its vulnerability. The title promises catastrophe, but the music deceives you with delicacy. This is about encountering love so powerful it tears through you like a hurricane. What’s left? Echoing silence. Heart pain. Complete confusion about how to move forward. Finnegan Seeker Bell’s melodic vocals carry the track, loaded with barely concealed pain from shattered romance. This sets the template: beauty and destruction, hand in hand.

“Scrapbook” jolts you awake after that lyrical opening. Different emotional territory entirely. The melody’s fast, dynamic, pushes you to move with it. It pulses with forward momentum. Here’s where Love Ghost really shows their strength: they capture the joy of victories and fresh starts while simultaneously conveying the bitterness of defeat and relationship breakdowns. And they do it without negativity or hysteria. The track stays bright throughout. It reframes mistakes and troubles as stepping stones. Necessary growth experiences.

“Scar Tissue” brings a completely different mood. Dark. Somewhat oppressive. It grips you in tension and doesn’t let go until it’s over. The melody creates dense sonic texture as backdrop. Finnegan Seeker Bell takes center stage.

“Sandcastles” bursts in like a hurricane after that heaviness, clearing away accumulated negativity and restoring positive energy. It starts with vigorous guitar work that builds in speed and volume, then slows again in waves. But the overall vibe stays upbeat. Life-affirming. It lets you view problems through a different lens—nostalgic, but not bitter.

“Hallucinations” is an illusion-song. It clearly addresses how people of all ages escape reality. The somewhat sharp guitar work pairs excellently with mesmerizing vocals that gradually gain power and become the track’s driving force. Finnegan explores escapism as a consequence of romantic trauma here. When reality becomes too painful to accept.

“Soviet Ghost” yanks you back to harsh reality from an unexpected angle. Here’s the interesting part: despite the track’s essence, it opens deceptively upbeat and optimistic. Like a march from another era. Only later do you realize how serious it is. Those major chords start sounding like bitter irony.

“The Masochist” closes the album with a peculiar, provocative theme: loving pain. Turning suffering into pleasure. The melody here is particularly striking—tender, affectionate, soothing. A lullaby for wounded souls. The guitars create a light rhythm that holds your attention, providing an anchor point and preventing total dissolution into thought. Finnegan takes a secondary position here. More of a background element for the beautiful melody. An additional texture layer. If you don’t focus on the lyrics, don’t zero in on the words—you can immerse yourself completely in the music. Think your own thoughts. Let it soundtrack your own reflections.

Gas Mask Wedding works as an artistic statement. Beyond the themes it directly addresses, Love Ghost forces you to consider adjacent issues that might lead to the problems shown in these tracks. Codependency. Trauma. Mental health. Social pressure. As you listen, you’ll confront other psychological problems the album inadvertently touches. It functions as a catalyst for self-knowledge. A mirror reflecting your own patterns of destructive relationships. This album deserves your attention, especially if you want to understand yourself better. If you’re ready for an honest conversation about love’s dark side.

Love Ghost’s new album is a bold, and I would even call it a necessary work—an album that speaks about what many prefer to stay silent about. About the fact that love can be toxic, destructive, dangerous. And acknowledging this fact is the first step toward healing.

*This review was made possible by SubmitHub