Album Review: Requiem For The Dead’s “Always And Forever”

Ever wonder what happened to I Am Ghost? You know, that Gothic post-hardcore band that had songs about Vampires and things like that? Well I did. And then a few months back I found this:

“Former I Am Ghost singer Steven Juliano to front new band”

Needless to say, that piqued my interest.

Going by the name Requiem For The Dead (RFTD), the band is based out of Santa Cruz, California (which is actually close to where I live, and they frequently play here), and has hit the scene with a bang. The band put their debut album, “Always And Forever”, up for free download on their website (www.RequiemForTheDead.com) on Septermber 2, 2011.

It starts off like your average concept album, with an opening that draws the listener into the story wondering what’s going to happen. After that, it’s a series of tracks the balance screams, calm vocals, electronics, pounding drums, and the same Gothic elements that made I Am Ghost so well know (even if for only  short period of time).

The story is of two star-crossed lovers (original, no?) trying to stay together “always and forever” hence the album title), even through life and death. This is made most obvious though the tracks “The Terrible Tale Of Two” and “Always And Forever”, though those are hardly the best tracks.

The album does a fairly decent job of keeping things interesting, having no songs sound the same, but at the same time that hurts it in a way, because as soon as listeners get used to one sound, they’re forced to readjust as soon as the next song starts. Yes, variety is good, but too much variety can be a bad thing. However, this being a debut album, it’s a chance for the band to find what kind of sound they want to have. Listeners just need to be patient with it. But all negativity aside, it’s actually a pretty good album due to the fact that the band DOES have an original musical style (mostly due to singer Steve Juliano), which is rare in music nowadays. And having something rare is great.

As for the key tracks, 2 of them have been released as singles, and noticeably, they’re 2 of the heavier songs from the album. The last key track is simply and odd song, but odd in a good way, and that’s due to the lyrics.
These tracks are:
“The Death Note of Shipwrecks”
“The Misadventure of Coffin Kid”
“Kill or Be Killed”

As for a rating, the strongly biased I Am Ghost fan would love for me to give this a straight 5/5 rating, but the critic in me simply won’t allow it. The critic looks at the flaws that the fan refuses to acknowledge, and that leads to the 3.5/5 rating that I give it. As soon as they work out the few kinks they have, and they tone down on the style changes, they’ll have perfected their art, or at least be close to it.

(And on a last note, I highly recommend readers go on and download this album, after all, it IS free.)

Requiem For The Dead – “The Death Note Of Shipwrecks”

One of those lovely shark people,
-JC