Our Last Night - The Ghosts Among Us

  by Alex Halls

published: 19 / 3 / 2008

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New Hampshire’s Our Last Night are the newest addition to the Epitaph roster and release their debut full-length, 'The Ghosts Among Us', to mixed acclaim, having already attracted much criticism for lacking originality and cutting edge. Perhaps somewhat harsh; yet a distinct point is made about how difficult it is to be creative within this genre, even if, underneath, 'The Ghosts Among Us' is an altogether successful debut. 'Screamo' is often made and broken by the quality of the vocals and that’s probably where some of the criticism is founded. 'Symptoms of a Failing System' kicks off 'The Ghosts Among Us' with intent by providing the perfect mélange of melodic and hardcore vocals, along with a strong guitar presence. The latter, however, loses its appeal in 'Timing Is Everything', as the lyrics become far too unintelligible. Whilst the genre isn’t known for its lyrical clarity, in 'The Ghosts Among Us', Our Last Night might go that touch too far at times. Further on, 'Running The Clocks' again makes the most of the melody, identifying itself as a screamo track of quality, one that grabs the listener for its duration. It’s in tracks like these that 'Ghosts...' grows in stature; the more often its sounds are explored. What is clear is that Our Last Night have a more developed sound than existed on any of their previous tracks and demos, one which makes full use of the band’s technical music-writing talent. For those into raucous vocals, 'The Ghosts Among Us' delivers frequent doses of growling vocals. For the more appreciative of melody, these vocals can become too intense. Essentially it all depends on the listener’s mood, yet finding the right audience is always more of a challenge. Our Last Night appear equally at ease with the melodic, anthemic sounds, which also frame this release and, whilst not trying anything new, have produced a record full of promise and packed with cathartic rock. If you’re looking for melody juxtaposed with discordant riffs, 'Ghosts...' hits the mark. The gloriously drawn out vocals in tracks like 'Recovery' clearly prove there’s a lot more behind the band than their detractors have signalled. Next time round the balance will need to be adjusted, but this is a good start.

Track Listing:-

1 Symptoms of A Failing System
2 Timing Is Everything
3 Running The Clocks
4 Recovery
5 Escape
6 Dreamcatcher
7 Forecasting
8 Surviving Disasters
9 This Is Your Lifesaver
10 I Have Fought A Measureless Battle
11 The Messenger

Label Links:-

http://epitaph.com/
https://www.facebook.com/epitaphrecords
http://epitaphrecords.tumblr.com/
http://www.kingsroadmerch.com/epitaph-records/region/
https://twitter.com/epitaphrecords
https://www.youtube.com/epitaph

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