Ethersens: Your Wandering Ghost

Five years since their well-received debut, Ethersens delivers their long-awaited follow-up recording. Unlike other bands that rush the sophomore release, usually due to corporate pressure, these guys took their time. The advantage to waiting is that the songs have time to grow and develop. The disadvantage, equally obvious, is that some listeners may not even know who these guys are. Five years is a long time in the music business.

The title of this album, Your Wandering Ghost, has a melancholic vibe to it. I mean, it doesn't need to refer to a ghost so much as a memory or an idea. The band points out that the creative effort here was to develop a concept album that treats two well-known kinds of tension: first, the creative tensions that arise while making an album; second, the interpersonal tensions that arise when friendships wither. The wandering ghost of the title, then, is probably a memory, a thought or an image concerning what was or what might have been.

The music here is pretty good. The band describes itself as "avant-garde." I never know exactly how to take such descriptions, especially with terms like that. To my ears, this is melodic post-rock with enough traces of metal to consider it a heavy album. The songs are dark and emotional, introspective and deep. At times, I thought the songs were too long. This is a very emotional album, one that can be a little hard to take as the tracks push toward the 7-minute mark. Still, I think the overall effort here is generally successful. Fans of emotionally-driven lyrics and themes should enjoy this one. The music is a little mellower but remains within a heavy metal register. These aren't ballads so much as long, introspective, and emotional meditations on all-too-human struggles.

Track Listing:
1. Two For One Mind
2. Same Goodbye
3. This is Where You and I Part Ways
4. Livin' Memory
5. Mourning Light
6. Reflect
7. Waking Disorder
8. To Live is to Forget

Added: May 9th 2014
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
Hits: 1841
Language: english

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