Ghost Brigade - Until Fear No Longer Defines Us
All hail the new gods of gloom! If you’re unfamiliar with this suicidal Finnish outfit -as I unfortunately was until about two years ago- you are truly missing out on one of the underground’s best kept secrets. The only thing that sucks about these guys is trying to find the right words to describe them. I could tell you this is absolutely essential listening for fans of Katatonia, Jesu, Alcest, and Swallow the Sun, but in truth they don’t really sound like any of those bands. Perhaps the one group actually fitted for the vague “Post-Metal” tag. Their sound is basically made up of two parts. The first part being the most infinitely dismal, depressive Rock imaginable to still somehow contain a radiant energy. Imagine if Alice in Chains had been frostbitten Scandinavian Metalheads instead of Seattle Grungemongers. The second part is grimy, distorted heaviness. Far more extreme by contrast, yet equally steeped in pure melancholy. Like Neurosis, but with talent. For these two styles, frontman Manne Ikonen flawlessly executes a downtrodden, clean croon for the former and a harsh, throat-tearing scream for the latter. If you’re trying to find a weak spot on this album you’ll have no luck. Even their masterful debut, 2007’s Guided by Fire, and its equally haunting followup, 2009’s Isolation Songs, had some scant traces of filler. Not the case here. This album starts with the acoustic “In the Woods.” I thought it somewhat peculiar to begin with an all-acoustic track at first. Fast-forward a week later and there isn’t an hour of the day when the chorus of this heartbroken anthem isn’t tattooed on my brain. And that can be said for any of these tracks. Whether it be the epic downer “Breakwater,” the sorrowful hymn “Chamber,” the aggressive angst of “Clawmaster,” or the bitter finale “Soulcarvers,” every song is a standout song. The lyrics are more or less my thoughts on a daily (“I want the ground to take me and swallow me whole”) and nightly (“You have to swallow the pain despite the taste”) basis, but Ghost Brigade articulate them better than I could ever dream of. This band has reached perfection.
(1) Comment(s)
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Deathbringer said:
Two quotes with the word “swallow” in them…? Sounds a little Freudian to me, Jack.
Just breaking your balls, bro.
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