Ghost Mountain’s first mixtape in four years is a welcome return

The first time I listened to this album I was not expecting it to hit me like a truck. 

October Country, released in March by hip-hop artist Ghost Mountain, is a powerful album with deep lyrics and a unique style. Most of the album was produced by horrorcore producer Oscar18, who was also the first producer for Haunted Mound. He brings his distorted and chaotic style to the album to great effect. Tracks like “Highway Hex” and “Damien” that feature Ghost Country’s long time collaborator Sematary hit like rituals. 

Ghost Mountain, whose real name is Wren Kosinski, is known for being the co-founder of the group Haunted Mound, and for his dark, emotional style. He started making music with Sematary back in 2019, making their first album titled Grave House. Together, the artists founded a collective called Haunted Mound which would go on to include member Buckshot, Hackle, and their producers Oscar18, Anvil, and Grimoire. 

This album marks his Ghost Mountains return to music after four years of silence. He left Haunted Mound in late 2021. Two years later in late 2021, Ghost Mountain left Haunted Mound. In an interview with Pitchfork, he pointed to miscommunication and uncertainty about his own direction.  

“I just didn’t really know myself super well,” he told Pitchfork. “I knew that I did want to make music, and that there were aspects of it that felt true, but I wasn’t exactly sure yet how to go about it. That, mixed with Sematary having a very strong idea of what it was that he wanted to do, and neither of us were effectively communicating those things to each other. That just builds up misunderstandings.” 

In September 2024, Ghost Mountain surprised fans with a new single called “Apollon” then dropped another single with Sematary in October 2024 called “Dark Harvest,” ultimately making a complete comeback with this new album. 

The first track on the album, “Moulder” expresses Ghost Mountain’s regret over leaving the Haunted Mound and that he feels emotionally hurt. “If I’d have known, you’d save my life,” he sings, saying that Sematary and the Haunted Mound saved his life when he returned. 

In “Familiar Stranger” Ghost Mountain talks about how he feels replaced by Buckshot or Hackle because they took his role when he was not there for four years, as he felt possible jealousy. “We didn’t even talk it out, just stayed in the fog, couldn’t face it” he sings on the track. 

“Damien” with Sematary on the track, is a reference to Damien Thorn from a horror film The Omen, where Damien was an Antichrist and cursed with a satanic birthmark. The song on this track is really distorted to give it that Haunted Mound witch house vibe.  

“Apologies for One of the Songs on the new Ghost tape,”  Sematary wrote in one of his tweets. “I know We’re hard to Understand But Putting Insane Effects On your vocals Until you Sound like an Eldritch Horror Demon Beast Over Giant Ear Splitting guitars And Bass you also Made Is just rhe Greatest Yall J Gon have 2 Deal.” 

Overall, this album is surprisingly good if you are into emo rap and heavily-distorted audio. It feels like a long-awaited return. I would suggest giving this album a try.

Cover Image: Ghost Mountain