Lovers' Requiem

Album Review

First impressions of I Am Ghost make it hard to not think of all the other punky bands out there with goth overtones and flourishes of metal, post-hardcore, rock, and pop. I Am Ghost, however, owns a particular sense of grandeur on Lovers' Requiem that is almost enough to set them apart from the midnight-hour pack. "Our Friend Lazarus Sleeps" starts the album on a recognizable enough note with its jerking guitars, swirling rhythms, and well-placed shrieks, but it soon becomes clear that the Cali sextet isn't planning to just fall in line beside its eye-linered peers. Each track is full of multiple layers of movement, the band's music an aggressive flurry of rising and falling dynamics that switch seamlessly from chugging guitars to gloriously smooth choruses to explosive metal kicks to rich male/female vocal harmonies. "We Are Always Searching" is like My Chemical Romance meets Yellowcard, while tracks such as "Killer Likes Candy" and "Pretty People Never Lie, Vampires Never Really Die" keenly display their innate sense of pop. The band also has a semi-elegant side, mostly highlighted in the handful of austere Latin choral pieces (composed and performed skillfully by the husband-and-wife team of violinist Kerith and bassist/keyboardist Brian Telestai), which along with various string arrangements add a nice flavor to the record's overall effect. Like other emo-goth groups of the 2000s, their message does involve vampires, darkness, and the lot, but at the same time, isn't so hung up in all the random razor-slash violence so many tout. I Am Ghost is more of a hope-filled band that allows love and angels to ultimately win out over death and despair. This helps the band itself win out over apathetic first impressions. And though it still might be hard to distinguish them from everyone else in the end, Lovers' Requiem is certainly fun while it lasts.