I Am No Longer A Ghost unveils its debut album.
Soberly entitled I Am No Longer A Ghost, it was created by multi-instrumentalist Thomas Eatherton.
When this thirteen-track album was presented to me, I observed the following labels: Indie-Folk, Emo, Black Metal, Post Hardcore, Alternative Metal, Post Rock and Screamo. A relatively wide choice, which at first glance doesn’t seem so obvious, but which makes perfect sense when you take the time to look at the tracks. The perfect example of this unexpected mix is 112 Ocean Avenue, the first track, which starts out very calmly, but gradually takes on a strange energy, revealing an intense darkness in its final moments, before returning to the quietude of Cold & Dirty Water, leaving the vocalist alone on a steamy instrumental thanks to various keyboards. We continue in airy tones on Wonder Wheel, a composition that seems far too calm to hide anything, as evidenced by the heady tones in the background, then Demido(u)g reiterates the progressive approach of intense Post influences for an explosive final. Her Doom Met My Gloom plunges us into the limbo of a soaring Shoegaze, while Shadetree Sawbone reveals a touching melancholy that again gains momentum as the voices multiply and merge to lead us to Either. Whether the first part of the track is again very gentle, the second is much more agitated between saturation, saturated vocals and blast before moving on to the complexity of Crossroads Of Hecate, which is adorned with dissonance and explosive riffs with a few touches of violence, particularly towards the visceral end. The atmosphere calms down again with Veritaserum, a catchy ballad with a singable chorus and a much more aggressive passage, then Black Metal roots are revealed all at once during the unhealthy and imposing Executioner / Impossibly Free, which also places disturbing elements in its dark savagery before returning to tranquility. The album continues with the more upbeat sounds of Burial Gown, which take advantage of a saturated rhythm to come to life, but it’s once again in the quiet that Lucy Firth begins, before finally revealing its true form, where a few spikes of violence and oppression run rampant. The Symphonic-influenced final also comes as a surprise, and then we suspect that Welcome Home will remain confined to its softness to close the album, but that was without counting on the majestic final eruption.
Rich and diverse, I Am No Longer A Ghost is truly an album to be enjoyed by all. Style boundaries have no effect on I Am No Longer A Ghost, which takes pleasure in shifting from Rock to Black Metal as it roams its various influences.
75/100