Album Review: Brother/Ghost - 'Black Ice'

Just like their influences, Brother/Ghost seem ahead of their time. 5-10 years from now people will be looking to this ep as an inspiration, maybe even see them as some sort of idol in the atmospheric/shoegaze rock genre. The fact is that Brother/Ghost mix two genres to create something emotionally driven and a feast to listen to.

Opener and title track Black Ice slowly lures you into a sense of meaning, while the band lulls a small carillon, setting the whole theme for the EP. While this may be a perfect opener for the rest of the record, it feels like it’s meaningfully misplaced.

Waal, the second track is in the same vein as Black Ice, for fans of this type of music, they’ll find it intriguing and captivating to listen to, while i’m not as familiar in the “post-rock” genre (the extent to my knowledge expends to about where Envy sat back in 2003 with Insomniac Doze, again blending harsher vocals with huge soundscapes.) Akin to Envy, but different in a way, sits Brother/Ghost – who blend unique, almost dreary vocals with cuter sounding xylophones and huge drum and guitars.

The rest of the EP is much the same, which did get boring after the first listen, but that’s only to my own tastes, like I said, I’m not THAT familiar with the workings of this particular genre, however I can and appreciate good songwriting and lyrics whenever I hear them. It also feels like the softer vocal parts are letting down the rest of the EP – that’s not without saying that Brother/Ghost are great in their own right. It’s unfortunately been done before.

Jaspers vocals do get tiresome after a while, and if I had it my way I’d cut out that jibber jabber and just leave out the sonascapes they’re creating with ease.

 Befitting to their hometown, Brother Ghost blend an electric mix of atmospheric rock and downtrodden indie rock to form a brilliant sound spectrum.

1. Black Ice

2. Waal

3. Touch Something and Say Dead

4. Baby Sharks Pt. One

5. Baby Sharks Pt. Two

6. Black Ice Reprise