Review: Anatomy of a Ghost - Evanesce

artist: anatomy of a ghost album: evanesce label: fearless records released: by: rob tatum Portland’s Anatomy of a Ghost bursts into the post-hardcore crowd with their debut, Evanesce. Combining elements of hardcore, punk, and emo, the album is quite diverse and could definitely turn some heads. This 11 song, 50 min effort has something for just about everyone. The first time I listened to this album, it really took some getting used to. John, the singer, has a unique voice that takes a couple songs to adjust to. Musically, it took a couple songs to find AOAG’s style. Their song structures are not your typical verse-chorus-verse style. If I was going to make a comparison, it would probably be to Thursday, or maybe a heavier Get Up Kids. Even then, I don’t think you could really get an exact idea of what AOAG is all about. Being the lyric fan that I am, I really dig the lyrics on Evanesce. Here’s an excerpt from “Beauty is in its embrace”, ‘inside display of broken wings, so smooth porcelain face cracks and flakes away, turns to pulse flying down telephone lines to the pictures on your wall burning on contact.’ I really like how the songs are longer; it makes the listener feel as if they are on a roller-coaster, going over each hill and around each turn. You would probably have to listen to the album to have an idea of what the hell I am talking about. Musically, the guitar work is really solid. The melodies are tied together nicely, fully utilizing the talent of each guitarist. The drums and bass are also just as solid, creating a heavy backdrop for the melodies to encompass. A good majority of the songs have build-ups, which create the roller-coaster effect I mentioned above Overall, this is a very good release. Any band that is releasing their debut album should be so lucky to have something that is as solid as this. favorite song: "beauty is in its embrace" rating: 84%/100% listen to anatomy of a ghost