EXORCISING THE HEARTBREAK: MAKE FIRE CAPTURES THE AGONY OF BEING REPLACED & FORGOTTEN WITH “GHOST”
Saturday June 28, 2025 by That Chick Krys
Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night, staring at the ceiling, gut-punched by the realization that someone you once knew and cared deeply about now treats you like you’re invisible? That’s the feeling Chicago-based band, Make Fire grabs by the throat and refuses to let go of in their emotional hard rock anthem, “Ghost.”
“Ghost” isn’t just another breakup song: it’s a raw scream torn straight from a wound that’s still wide open. Make Fire doesn’t settle for playing hard rock; they turn it into a weapon, unleashing a sonic assault that hammers at heartbreak and self-doubt until there’s nothing left but nerve endings.
Guitarist, Max Carrillo doesn’t just play riffs – he makes the strings snarl and slash, digging in and leaving marks. Every chord is a jagged edge, every run a white-hot wire. Sabastian Neudeck’s drums crash like thunder in a storm of panic, relentless and bone-rattling, pushing everything forward with the kind of urgency that makes you forget to breathe. Then there’s Al Herda – his versatile vocal range isn’t just a vessel for pain. It’s the storm itself: trembling one moment, spitting pure fury the next, always coming from some brutally honest place you can’t fake. Threaded beneath it all, Joel Seidlitz’s bass prowls through the song’s underbelly: thick, brooding, the dark pulse that makes every blow hit harder.
And the sound? It’s massive. Engineer, mixer, and mastering wizard Evan Frederiksen – along with a shot of extra intensity from Jae Sims’ vocal direction – makes sure every second of “Ghost” feels alive, urgent, and razor-sharp, with nothing lost in the mix. It’s catharsis cranked up past safe levels; a track you don’t just hear, but feel in your bones. (And if you’re anything like me, you’ll have it on repeat from the moment you hit play.)
Here’s where my opinion comes in: Make Fire nails something most bands are too afraid to touch – the humiliation and agony of being ghosted or slowly phased out by someone you love. And that’s what makes “Ghost” so devastatingly relatable. The title takes on a double meaning that’s easy to miss but impossible to forget. On one level, the narrator is the “ghost” of the person who was replaced – left behind, invisible, forced to be a spectator from the sidelines. But on another level, the song is about the pain of being ghosted or slowly phased out, especially for someone else. That ache, that slow erasure, is one of the worst feelings when you care about someone deeply. Make Fire captures that with a rare honesty, giving voice to the kind of heartbreak most people are too ashamed to admit. That slow fade is brutal, and vocalist, Al Herda – who wrote the lyrics – captures it with an honesty you don’t see often. He puts words to a kind of heartbreak most people wish they could pretend away.
The song’s production matches the emotional weight of the lyrics at every turn. When the pain is sharp, the guitars snarl. When despair creeps in, the drums sound like a heartbeat gone frantic. Every pause, every silence, is loaded with things left unsaid. The music video, filmed and directed by J.T. Ibanez, bottles that haunted, claustrophobic energy into visuals that make you feel like you’re locked inside a mental prison, surrounded by ghosts of what used to be. It’s not just a backdrop, but an extension of the story, heightening the sense of being trapped and unseen.
Make Fire’s backstory just makes the music hit even harder. The band’s roots dig deep into the Midwest music scene, but their story really goes off like a grenade in Mexico City, where guitarist Max Carrillo and drummer Sabastian Neudeck first played together at Hell & Heaven Fest. Max nearly died from altitude sickness, left with just one working lung and a new outlook on everything. Instead of slowing down, he poured his survival into music – writing a song a day for a month, turning pain and adrenaline into the blueprint for Make Fire.
Formed in 2023, Make Fire might be new on paper, but every member brings the scars and swagger of a road-hardened veteran. Max’s resume reads like a hard rock tour diary – he’s played full-time with Gears, Sleep Signals, Eve to Adam, and Scotty Austin, sharing stages with legends like Sevendust and Alter Bridge. Sabastian is still out there tearing it up with Discrepancies, while Joel Seidlitz brings his own edge from his national stint with Ignescent. Throw in vocalist Al Herda and you’ve got a lineup built on mutual respect, relentless drive, and the kind of chemistry you can’t fake.
All that grit, all those miles, bleed straight into “Ghost.” Their sound is a collision – hard rock slamming headfirst into echoes of Linkin Park, Three Days Grace, and Papa Roach. But what really sets Make Fire apart is the honesty and emotional intelligence in every note. These aren’t just battle-tested musicians; they’re survivors, and you can hear it in every second of their music.
By the time “Ghost” reaches its raw, defiant close “Go fuck his ghost,” it’s no longer just a song about heartbreak, but a declaration of survival, a refusal to keep living in the shadow of someone else’s memory. It’s messy, angry, painfully honest, and empowering.
If you’ve ever felt invisible, replaced, or slowly erased by someone you love, “Ghost” is the song that sees you. It’s as cathartic as it is devastating, and a modern hard rock exorcism for the haunted. Make Fire has set the bar high, and with songs like this, their blaze won’t be going out anytime soon.
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“Ghost” has been added to the Hypernova Radio rotation, as well as my “Heavy,” “Hypernova Radio – New Adds,” and “Wanderlust” playlists on Spotify!
Hypernova Radio is an online radio station proudly based in Toronto, Canada, spinning 24/7 with an unstoppable mix of hard rock, house beats, and everything in between. If you crave music that never quits, you’re in the right place.
