I Am Ghost – Lovers Requiem

I remember when I Am Ghost‘s debut EP came out last year. I was quite impressed with it, very impressed in fact. The delicate way in which the vocals intertwined along with the soaring violin made for a atmospheric emo masterpiece. Still, the highlight of the album came from the introduction, The Dead Girl Epilogue. The subtle way they were able to slowly lure you into the album courtesy of some fancy tinkering to make it sound like rain falling all around you just took me away – and it was that image that I took away from We Are Always Searching. Now, a year later, the band is set to release their first full-length album, Lovers Requiem, and they have once again succeeded in impressing me.

Once again, the band kicks it off with an amazing introduction: Crossing The River Styx. While it is not comparison to The Dead Girl Epilogue, the gregorian chant does grab the listener’s attention instantly and pulls them in as it builds in momentum. The only thing they should have worked on was the fade into the second track, Our Friend Lazarus Sleeps; because as it is, it just jumps out at you too sharply after the soothing introduction – it should have built up a bit more.

The rest of the album follows up in the vein that We Are Always Searching did; two songs, Pretty People Never Lie/Vampires Never Really Die and We Are Always Searching actually appeared on the EP. The songs are all intricately layered by the six piece. Three vocalists overlapping each other, one male singing, one male screaming and one female set of vocals carefully sandwich between the two give the songs a very deep sound. Throw in the unusual use of the violin and piano and you have a very wide, adventurous, melodic, post-hardcore album. Throughout it all, it is the use of the violin and female vocals that really set I Am Ghost apart from the crowd – particularly on the album-titled track and the album closer, Beyond The Hourglass. The band is able to show us the many sides of themselves throughout the short course of the album, from the heavier/angrier songs similar to Greeley Estates to the soothing instrumental The Denouement (which once again uses the gregorian chant to entice the listener back into the folds of the album for the final three, and the three standout, tracks of the album).

Really, there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with the album. The songs are well written, unique enough to be memorable, and I’m always a sucker for the violin if used properly. Still, it does lack a certain staying power, it doesn’t stand out too much and does fall victim to the over-produced, slick emo vocal delivery at times. While there are more things that make I Am Ghost stand out than there are things that drown them in a crowd, there’s still not quite enough to keep them a float. Lovers Requiem is worth a few listens, but after that, it’s pretty much done.