1. Symptons 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 Fough A Measureless Battle
11. The Messenger
I'm pretty sure Epitaph used to be the home of some original and exciting bands. It seems that punk/hardcore has lost its way a little. That's not necessarily Epitaph's fault, you can only sign what's out there after all, but it must be said that to see that giant E looming at you from an album cover used to guaranteed a certain level of quality.
Hardcore has changed over the years, jumping into bed with Metal, dropping its straight-edge knickers and eventually birthing the dubious sub-genre known as Screamo. Our Last Night are yet another Screamo band, another dirty mewling brat in a world already populated with lazy, uninspired offspring.
Let it be said however, that technically, Our Last Night are faultless. Songs are properly arranged, guitar necks are shredded at every given opportunity, and riffs are spat out and changed with such regularity that you wonder how on earth they manage to come up with so many.
That such changes in mood and pace are not as jarring as you might expect is testimony only to the band's songwriting skill; which to be fair is more advanced than many currently clogging the arteries of this particular genre. Running The Clocks is such an example, which shows off a dizzying array of versatility and range and proves that just occasionally Screamo can produce music that is pretty catchy.
However catchy some of these songs may be, Our Last Night do very little to push the envelope and explore new territory. If you're content with having an album wash over you without really challenging you, then The Ghosts Among Us is for you. All the things you would expect are firmly in place. There's some shouty vocals followed by some melodic vocals which rarely vary in pitch or attack.
It's difficult to distinguish Trevor Wentworth's style from any other lungbursting scream demon out there, which is a shame because he evidently has a good voice. Maybe that's the point, but it does make albums in this particular genre a particular drag to listen to. Once you've finished marvelling at the astonishing musicianship on display there is very little to get your teeth into.
You could point to the fact that the band is incredibly young, and with such obvious talent they are likely to be capable of producing far more interesting music in the future. I can only point you towards the frantic grinding hardcore of Rolo Tomassi and say "That's how it's done, and they've probably not got National Insurance cards yet." Simply being good musicians isn't always enough; it's having the vision to make music that sounds like your own.
Sadly this is an album that sounds like it is spending too much time playing up to what is expected rather than tearing up the rule book and starting again.
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