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Review Summary: A premium blend of melody and hardcore rock, The Ghosts Among Us serves as a stepping stone for musical innovation in the future but a great example of who they are now. A few years ago when I first started listening to rock and expanding my tastes, a friend of mine told me about a local band named Our Last Night. He lived in the area and heard about them through some friends. I listened to a few songs on their myspace and thought they weren't half bad. I thought to myself one day they might even get signed and develop the sound they needed to make it on a wider stage. I believe they have done just that.
Our Last Night has delivered a powerful record with strong melody and technical precision, an assertive first step into their major music career with their debut release on the independent label Epitaph. The opening track "Symptoms of a Failing System" leaves nothing to imagination, with loud drums, impressive guitar, strong bass, and the wonderful complimentary vocals of brothers Trevor (growls) and Matt (clean) Wentworth. At the age of 15, Trevor is barely old enough to learn how to drive, let alone scream. However, this isn't a bad thing. His unique style is part of the appeal and it stands out in a crowd of growling imitators that permeate the genre. The way the two vocalists trade off so constantly and harmoniously isn't all that new, but it's still a winning formula. In some cases they echo each other to drive the lyrics home. Moving on in the record, "Timing Is Everything" has the feel of a closing track with a greater emphasis on melody that invites you to sing along, making for a great live song. At 3:26 when Trevor takes a deep breath, it builds anticipation for the explosion of sound that follows. "Recovery" is the radio ready single with catchy hooks and powerful vocals from both brothers. However this song highlights Matt's superb vocal range; his belts are spot on and they hit hard. In "Forecasting" an acoustic guitar is used in the chorus which provides at least a shred of variety, but the song as a whole is still executed well. Lastly, the intro to "I Have Fought A Measureless Battle" shows off a traditional hardcore side of the band, with the quick successive drum beats by and excellent growls from Trevor.
By no means is this band perfect, as I may have led you to believe. They are great at what they are trying to do, and they pull it off without a hitch in The Ghosts Among Us. However, they desperately need to innovate and find a sound that is their own. What the band has shown in this album is that they have what it takes to take what they have and craft something even better. Because they are relatively young and new I believe this is possible. In "Escape", Matt describes their predicament when he asks "Where do we go now?". Only time will tell, but something tells me these guys are going places.
| other reviews of this album |
ToWhatEnd (3)
While Our Last Night’s debut is far from original, they have some great qualities which will only ...
ANewTypeOfPunk (4)
This band hailing from New-Hampshire, is clearly a very promising six piece, that will indeed place ...
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Album Rating: 3.5
As this is my first review, please be gentle. I already noticed a few grammatical errors and this was due to a lack of proof reading. After I finished I didn't think before I pressed submit so there you go haha
Any comments/critiques/complaints/derogatory slang will be duly noted. :D
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Quite good for a first, not as good as Mike's but of course he's done a buttload of these.
You could certainly talk a bit more about the music (you talk about the vocals mostly) but I think this is just good enough for a pos (which means a positive vote on the review, in case you don't know).
Welcome to the site and I hope to see your writing only get better.
| | | Album Rating: 1.5
I'm quite tired of these Underoath clones. Very good first review, i'll pos but this band really sucks, especially the cheap Underoath imitation singing and crappy harsh vocals A 15 year old vocalist is quite the gimmick if I've ever heard one but i'll stick with Hand To Hand in the mean time.This Message Edited On 08.03.08
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god they just pissed me off live. i'm the same age as the lead vocalist, but he has a really high-pitched child scream. i find it annoying, but that could be because i'm used to guttural shit. and he has that "look at me, i'm a sk8r!" vibe to him. ugh.
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wait, nevermind. i'm older than him.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Thanks for the comments, all.
I actually haven't seen them live yet, when I went to Warped they weren't playing (which was odd since its the local stop) so I really dont know how they are.
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The band sucks. But for a first review it's very good. You could stand to throw in an extra long word or two- it makes people think you're deep. Good to see you reviewing an album you obviously like aswell. That always helps.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Haha thanks I'll try to be more articulate in the future.
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soooo mediocre.
havent heard the full album yet, but im not expecting much.
review wasnt too bad either for a first attempt
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i stumbled upon this the other day
nothing spectacular i must say
| | | Album Rating: 1.0
BAD BAD BAD
screamer is dodgey! and its generic as crap!
| | | Album Rating: 1.0
the lyrics are so generic... "timing is everything with me"... "recovery"... im pretty sure those are from FFAF songs.
as for the music, it's basically the same generic bullshit
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Idk I like them I think the screams are different, I scream and I've tried to scream like him and its hard, it's like a yell with the scream at the end, maybe it's because he hasn't been through puberty yet though.
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Kid sounds like he's throwing up
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
ok, i see why all you guys would dismiss this band as just another clone with nothing much to offer. True that this genre is a been there, done that genre where most of its members are immitators. When i started listening to this album i was really turned off by the singer's voice - just sounded like the screamer was trying too hard to create a voice that was sub-par. well i got used to it after a while... i think what i like about this album the most is its drive. dunno if this makes sense but i feel like some bands get tangled up and begin to toil in in the same place for a whole album. while i'm listening to this i feel like its moving somewhere at all times and its draging me along with it haha. the other thing i like a lot is how defined the guitar riffs are. i find with a lot of bands, their riffs get repedative or slured together. OLN does an excellent job of nailing their riffs, making them percise, and theres enough variation to keep me satisfied. although these guys may BE a clone band - if They're Only Chasing Safety left you craving more...this seems like it would be fit to follow up with. sorry if this is saying too much but i don't want to write a whole new review.
| | | Album Rating: 1.0
Still very meh
.This Message Edited On 04.30.09
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Some of the tracks are noticeably better than others, gets a bit repetitive after a while and what's going to happen when that kids balls drop?!
Good effort though, seem pretty talented for how young they are, could progress well
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
after seein what the guitarist plays and sings at the same time i was throughly impressed, the variations in their guitar parts are insane this is a band you wanna catch live
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Not a bad album. I spin it every once and awhile still but it does get repetitive rather quickly but it is a very solid record. If these guys can continue to evolve, they might really have something
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
pretty good album looking forward to their next one hopefully better screams
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