The Pitch: Chicago metalcore quintet Speaking With Ghosts releases their latest album, Illuminated, via Famined Records. FFO: The Ghost Inside, The Plot in You, Architects
What I Like: Illuminated has plenty in store for your average metalcore fan. There are lots of djenty hooks, for instance the excellent opening to "Uncrowned" and of course the lead single "Woven In Gold." Perhaps even catchier are the vocals, ranging from infectious choruses, as on personal favorite "The Boy Who Lived," to more cutting, staccato harsh deliveries of "Winds Change." The album is also damn consistent in terms of energy and passion. These guys clearly grew up with the genre and have a desire to do it justice.
Critiques: All said and done, there's nothing particularly special about this outing. The songs don't offer much variety, and most of the content has been done better on classic albums going back to the likes of Underoath. Illuminated doesn't do anything bad; quite to the contrary I found myself bobbing my head with some frequency. It's just a certain feeling of redundancy that irks me.
The Verdict: Illuminated is good entry-level metalcore for newer fans out there. The songs are fun, the vocals are catchy, and the riffs are solid. However, if you've been a fan of the genre as long as I have, worshipping the likes of Poison The Well and Converge, you may find yourself wanting a little more meat to sink your teeth into. Either way, it's worth at least a listen to decide for yourself, and you could do much worse Speaking With Ghosts.
Flight's Fav's: The Boy Who Lived, Winds Change, Dreamwalker
-Review by FlightOfIcarus
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