Previously named A Dying Dream, since becoming The Ghost Inside in 2004, the metalcore group have released three full-length records, with a fourth due in November. They’ve been consistent too, with each usually coming roughly two years after the last. This new album, titled Dear Youth, however, proved an entirely new experience. “When it came time to write the new record, I was in a very different place to where I was when we were writing the previous records. I actually was feeling so out of touch with so many things that I started writing a letter called ‘Dear Youth’ to my former self, to remind myself how it feels to have that youthful optimism, because for a long time I felt really stuck on this path, this stagnant and used up vibe. I felt like this was all I was going to be good for, and it was really hard to break that cycle of thinking ‘I, as a human being, am limited’. I’ve been doing this through my 20s and my 30s, so it’s hard to be in the mindset of that 20-year-old when he first started, because it’s been ten years since then and things are different than they used to be. It was hard to get through that funk, so the idea of Dear Youth and writing that letter to my former self helped me remember that although I’m getting older, there’s still a heap of things I can do if I put my mind to it.”

While the subject matter of Dear Youth is deeper than it has been in the past, Vigil believes ageing and maturing clarifies direction and eases the transition from one record to the next. “If you do something long enough, you come into your own with it. When we started we didn’t have a direction or sound or any idea what we wanted to do. But over the years, you kind of fall into place. I became a more confident singer and lyricist – we all found our own niche. And as a group, when you’re on the road with four to five other people 24 hours a day, seven days a week, you learn how to work as a unit. It’s a good dynamic and I’m stoked with where the band is at the moment.”

With four albums now under the belt, the band are buoyed by the thriving state of hardcore and metalcore, both here and overseas. “In the US, it’s in a good place. I think there’s still some things that need to be worked out in the scene; I don’t think it’s as inviting as it used to be. There are some bands and kids in the US who take it and try to make it a competition, but you don’t need to be like that. Overall though, I think it’s in a good state. I think it’s honestly becoming a lot more popular – it’s starting to see the light. It’s cool that bands in our genre are starting to see the exposure that they never used to be able to see back in the day.”