Starting a project after a loss of almost half of the team working on it is usually a hard thing to do, but Long Beachbased Post-hardcore band I Am Ghost’s third album, Those We Leave Behind, was released in 2010, with major line-up changes. The two Christian band members parted ways, leaving the band without a vocalist. Founder Steve Juliano took the role and does the vocals for the whole album. The band’s debut album was well received, but nothing too impressive. Seeing a major line-up change could either make or break the band, but since it did happen, it seems to have done neither. I believe the band is much different, but not for better or worse.
The opening track, “Intro: We Dance with Monsters”, was rather enjoyable, setting a dark mood that flows for the rest of the album. One complaint I have is that most of the songs after this seem to be the same in structure and sound. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good sound, but being the same for half of the album doesn’t help much. The first half of the album is arguably better than the last, with the 7th track being a particular low point. That being said, some songs were great, particularly the tracks “Saddest Story Never Told”, “They Always Come Back”, and “BoneGarden”, as well as one of the tracks with the most variation from the generic sound, “Make Me Believe This Isn’t Real”. The album also ends on a strong point with “Set Me Free”, meaning the album starts and ends strong with some highlights in between. The main highlight for me was the great musicianship, the mini guitar solo from “BoneGarden” in particular.
There is some creativity in this album, it just doesn’t come from where you expect. The lyrical content of this album is actually great, being full of metaphors and meaning. It’s better than most of the stereotypical Post-hardcore themes and takes a more Gothic approach, which I love. Songs like “Set Me Free”, “Saddest Story Never Told”, and “Don’t Wake Up” showcase the strong points of the themes. “BoneGarden” is more violent lyrically than the rest of the album, adding some much needed variety. More creativity is showcased with the use of cello and violin, though they could have been emphasized more to separate from the other bands in the genre. This is an album that some people will want to listen to again and again, while others probably won’t remember it much, with the exception of the albums excellent highlight tracks and parts.
The new vocalist does a pretty good job following up the old one, though he can sound a bit monotonous. He does have a good voice and a good range; he just needs to showcase it more. The guitar work is excellent on this album, as stated earlier with “BoneGarden”. The instruments are all done well, though the cello and violin should have been used a bit more than they were. This could partially be because of the production of the album. The production was fine for the most part; though as stated the violin and cello could have been made clearer and used more. The vocals and rest of the instruments are produced just fine.
Those We Leave Behind is only going to be a big hit among a certain crowd. Whoever that crowd is, I’m sure they’ll love it. I actually enjoyed this album a lot myself, though I’ve definitely heard more impressive bands. I do, however find this to be better than most Post-hardcore bands, which I find to sound generic and boring. Those We Leave Behind is definitely not a “sophomore slump” but it’s not really a big improvement from the debut. It’s sad that I Am Ghost have broken up since this album, because I would have loved to hear the improvements they could have made on future albums. I feel that they had the potential to be a great modern Post-hardcore band if they could just find out exactly how to use the amount of talent that they had.
My rating: 3.5/5
