Ghost Brigade - Isolation Songs (2009)^{Release ID: 6527}

Ghost Brigade is another band that I never listened to...until now. But I heard some people think Ghost Brigade is a group of Katatonia wannabes with their first two albums Guided by Fire and Isolation songs, but that comparison is getting old. Ghost Brigade has their own hybrid harmony of styles such as progressive and melodeath with small sludge influences. But this style still sounds a little like Burst meets Before the Dawn. Too bad the combative harsh vocals lack distinct aggression.

Isolation Songs is meant to compound the listener into persisting isolating misery in a good way, but ultimately some things are a little disappointing here. Like I said, there are some people who think this band is a melodeath rip-off of Katatonia, due to each band's similarities, but Ghost Brigade have their own sound to touch upon. However, that attempt in originality isn't at its strongest light and got them stuck too close to their Katatonia influences, along with the aforementioned Burst and Before the Dawn. While that affects the instrumentation, the guitars are still a good driving element that helps level some songs up.

The opener "Suffocated" is too dull and empty in the grooves, so that's a miss. "My Heart is a Tomb" is far more superior, starting with a flowing acoustic intro then driving into powerful chords and a clean chorus. That's a nice blend of influences from the last few Sentenced albums and Amorphis at the time. "Into the Black Light" continues the band's Amorphis influences with a nice groove intro that still sounds a little radio-friendly.

Things get torturous in a great way with "Lost in a Loop", striking your head with sludgy riffs, big hooks, and harsh vocals harder than a sledgehammer. One of the album's strongest songs! "22:22 - Nihil" takes you on a nice swim through instrumental ethereal beauty. "Architect of New Beginnings" is another great example of harsh vocals conveying fitting images. The well-conveyed images continues in the 9-minute "Birth". The images conveyed are some of the most interesting, but the music is not really engaging for a 9-minute epic.

"Concealed Revulsions" has a cool acoustic intro, enough said. Reaching its dynamic peak is "Secrets of the Earth", with emotive melodies alongside bitter screams, keeping up the band's Amorphis-like folk metal influences. The powerful storming 6-minute closer, "A Storm Inside" begins humble and mellow before the powerful storm escalates. Excellent ending for this album!

Despite the vocals being a bit inconsistent and having an obsolete lack of depth, this album shows that they can work around bringing their better influences to light and making up for the overused ones. Isolation Songs is another album to keep yourself isolated in the progressive melodeath realm....

Favorites: "My Heart is a Tomb", "Lost in a Loop", "Architect of New Beginnings", "Secrets of the Earth", "A Storm Inside"