Coheed and Cambria have a lot to answer for. While their 'Second Stage Turbine Blade' record was one of the most innovative cds of recent years, they've spawned a new generation of copycat bands, seemingly copying their weird and wonderful antics. One such band is Fearless Records' Anatomy of a Ghost who sound so much like C&C that I'm astonished they've managed to bypass copyright laws.
For those uninitiated with the style, you can take some high pitched vocals, weird but descriptive lyrics and disjointed guitars and dynamics and throw them all into one big melting pot. Albums tend to be concepts with each song following on from another, usually with the vocals having an original slant to make them stand out. You can check almost all of these elements off for AOAG, but unfortunately for them the end product ends up muddy and at times is too experimental for its own good.
'Birth of a Mile' and 'Set The Stage' start things off by following the rulebook and are reasonably drawn out tracks that without setting anything on fire are still listenable. But the lack of cohesion becomes annoying after a while and with both tracks over four minutes in length, they tend to meander rather than hit home. Substance over style fellas? 'Dearest I'll Meet You In The Hollows' is 90 seconds of effects and sounds that leads into 'On To Morning Stars', a track which highlights the band's obvious talents. Probably single quality, it's possibly so good because the vocals are higher in the mix than other songs.
Things carry on in a similar vein throughout the length of the record. Screams collide with angular guitar riffs and there is more feedback and effects here than neccessary. But it's all in the name of art I guess. The cleaner and more composed beginnings of 'Since Yesterday' reminds me of Taking Back Sunday but without the power - the screams and vocals don't quite take on the passion of their peers and this is ultimately what leads to the albums demise. 'Beauty Is In Its Embrace' is much harder but it's been done better before.
Anatomy of a Ghost would probably have been hailed as revolutionary visionists had they come up with 'Evanesce' three years ago, but as it is it's just re-hashed riffs and ideas from other bands. The production isn't as clear as it could be and the lack of structure in some of the songs leaves you scratching your head at times.
www.wewillrise.net
Paul
