An emotional tale...
Before I began listening to the musical side of I Am Ghost I wanted to see what I was about to get myself into. First up and foremost, this band has had quite a few line up changes over the past year or so. People left, others have joined and so I can imagine this has had a large influence over the material created for ‘Those We Leave Behind’.
Between this release and the previous, vocalist and founder of the band Steve Juliano has been though a spiritual journey. What began as a mission to put together a band playing post-hardcore music was slowly slipping away from his dream as member after member of the band were departing, due to different reasons. This album therefore, written during this session of soul searching, is about finding a peace in things he was unable to change, letting life come to you and not running about looking for it. In lyrical terms, this is the darkest album written by Juliano.
Since the band lost its violinist and female vocalist, things were evidently going to change. What has been mastered is a darker and heavier more metallic sound, yet something passionate and emotional; it’s punk rock with added hardcore elements. The introductory track ‘Intro: We Dance With Monsters’ sets the mysterious setting before the harsh guitars blast through with a darker edge on ‘Don't Wake Up’; there are some catchy lines to ‘Buried Way Too Shallow’; ‘Bone Garden’ has some electric guitars. For some of the more intensified tracks such as ‘Those We Leave Behind’, there is a constant emotional roller coaster that tugs at you; the lyrics are the worst culprits of this.
The vocals for some part are reserved and because of this, it puts you on edge, as if there is a building of emotion that can not quite reach to the surface for much of the time, but occasionally pushing though a small hole for a peek and a shriek. It is remarkable that after all the changes, the band still has the consistency and energy to create such a refreshing album.