Ghost Brigade - Until Fear No Longer Defines Us

Finnish death/doom/gloom metallers Ghost Brigade have returned with their third album, Until Fear No Longer Defines Us. I've been looking forward to this release for some time after hearing, and loving, Isolation Songs. I was interested to hear what direction the band would take with their songwriting, and whether they could top the spine-chilling Into The Black Light. I pre-ordered the album from Amazon, and was pleased to discover that the first pressing digipak contains the lyrics printed on the back of a pretty cool poster featuring the album art.

First impressions of the new material start with album opener In The Woods, an acoustic number with a mournful melody plucked from plaintive strings and Manne Ikonen's lilting vocal setting the tone, both lyrically and musically.

This slowness is immediately shattered with the opening riffs of Clawmaster. The heavy doom riffs and death vocals turn the mood around. It is immediately less melancholy, angrier. This is the way the album continues, drowning in sorry, then bursting in anger. Clawmaster is where the album really finds its feet. The sound is much more dense that Isolation Songs, consuming and immersive. Softer melodies interlace with the deep, intense drum beat.

Chamber continues the constant transition from heavy to despondent and back again. The melody is punctuated by the strong, repetitive beat of the drum as Manne's vocal carry a gentle misery. The vocals are stronger than on previous records, and the growls more convincing. The production of the record is somehow thicker, more viscous, to go with the denser musical sound. The vocals sometimes seem to get lost in the depths of the melody, but then shine through again a moment later.

Following the sorrowful calm of Chamber comes Traces Of Liberty, a guitar-driven track of chugging riffs and ringing cymbals. Almost the antithesis of Chamber, the vocals are entirely growled and take on an almost progressive feel as the driving chorus build up and carry the simple, yet effective, melody.

The next track, Divine Act Of Lunacy, is one of my favourites on the album. Lead by a strong, simple drum beat and repetitive riff that continue throughout, the song is more anthem than complex melodic track. But the chorus comes and the song lifts and the second mood of the album becomes readily apparent.

In an interview with Terrorizer the band said that they are disappointed that many people miss the hope in their music. That they are seen as a miserable, depressive Finnish death metal band. And this one track should be enough to dispell that myth. While the lyrics are depressing, they are also hopeful and strong. The message is clear. There is always hope, even when there is no hope, if you make it for yourself.

And no sooner has it begun, it abruptly ends. The next track, Grain, starts with a riff somewhat reminiscent of Into The Black Light, and with a similarly powerful riff running through the chorus. The songwriting on this new record is much stronger than before. While Isolation Songs had a couple of songs that really stood out from the rest, Until Fear No Longer Defines Us doesn't have any.

The songs so far on the album have all had their moods, their suitable adjectives, but nothing yet has really been there just to creep you out. Breakwater is up next to do just that. Starting out with a slow, repetitive rasp, the riff leads into a clash of heavy guitar, rattling cymbals and a discomforting slow growl. Fittingly, this is the song that contains the lyric the album is named for. The song is heavy with metaphor, of drowning and of struggling to stay above water. A topic that never fails to make my skin crawl.

In keeping with the ever changing tones of the album, Cult Of Decay actually manages to sound upbeat against the heavy dirge of Breakwater. This is where the band demonstrate their progressive stylings. Lighter melodies are offset with slightly off-kilter drums to give a somewhat confused feel to the song. It works well against the clean vocals, and the chorus, when it arrives, does so without much warning with a crash of cymbals and a prog-heavy guitar.

Continuing the progressive theme is Torn, a drum-led battering of forceful riffage. The simple bass line pummels the beat into your head while drums take you on a journey, shifting time signatures back and forth and building up the sound to a glorious crescendo.

Rounding off the album is Soulcarvers. Turning things right back down to the softer, slower melodies of the earlier tracks, this is a demanding, oppressive song to listen to. A very different type of song, the weight is in the dragging of the beats and the draining of hope. The chorus is tight as hell and the pounding riff, the resounding drums, the sheer force of it brings the album to a perfect close.

For this album Ghost Brigade have stepped up their game in every respect. The song writing is magnificent, the riffs, melodies, thundering drums all come together perfectly to product an album full of highlights. Every single song is worth the time to listen to. It is simply superb.


As a special bonus, here is the official video for the breathtaking Clawmaster.