Ghost Brigade
Isolation Songs

The Finnish Ghost Brigade reappear on the music scene in 2009 with the current "Isolation Songs," their second release after the well-received debut (so they say) that remained somewhat in the shadows internationally, "Guided By Fire."

In searching for some documentation on them, I came across definitions that associate them with Katatonia, Sentenced, and many other gothic metal groups. Now, I don't know how much these components were actually present in their first effort, but different names come to mind with this album.

The furious screams (although sometimes a bit monochrome) of Manne Ikonen remind me at times of the intense post-hardcore and wild approach of Von Till and Kelly in Neuosis; certain melodic frameworks seem instead to belong to the French Gojira (especially in the use of enveloping and elaborate riffing); many cold and melancholic atmospheres (almost gothic if you will) could ultimately come from a work like "Silent Waters" by the fellow (and much more famous) Amorphis led by Tomi Joutsen. To all this, add in some typically doom slowed-down moments and a general gothic metal decadence and melancholy, these indeed derived from Katatonia.

A senseless patchwork of styles then? Quite the opposite. These guys surprised me, their work is easy to listen to and absorb, and quickly wins you over, leaving great memories and, at least for me, a tendency to listen repeatedly.

This judgment of mine is then confirmed by a lineup where I don't feel like excluding any track. All of them seem well designed and useful to the collective, with an overall quality that is consistently high.

So many standout pieces: the opening "Suffocated", hammering, frantic, and icy; the semi-ballad "My Heart Is A Tomb"; the extremely melancholic "Into The Black Light"; "Lost In A Loop", with its pachyderm pace (on the border between doom and sludge but lightened by ethereal cello inserts); the dreamy instrumental "22:22 - Nihil"; "Birth" (perhaps the most "katatonic" of the batch) and the final trio of semi-ballads (but damnably fierce when they get going) "Concealed Revolutions", "Secrets Of The Earth" and "A Storm Inside".

To all these, I add a bonus track (not included in all versions), "Liar", also fascinating and satisfying from the first to the last minute.

Probably, this review might seem a bit too enthusiastic for a band that, as detractors might say, hasn't really invented anything. Perhaps, and for this reason as well, I refrain from giving the highest marks (also because the true masterpieces are others, this is beyond doubt). However, I want to emphasize the undeniable value of Ghost Brigade's offering, in my opinion a group that will go far and, if they don't lose their essence but rather continue to be so eclectic, will know how to surround themselves with many supporters. For now, I can only say that this "Isolation Songs," as far as I'm concerned, stands out as one of the albums that most surprised me in 2009.