Phonebook Eater 7/10

A sense of hope, among nothing but shadows is what can be easily sensed by listening to "Until Fear No Longer Defines Us".

Ghost Brigade is a sludge metal/melodic death metal band from Finland, and “Until Fear No Longer Defines Us” is their third studio work, after two mediocre albums. But with this album there is a definite step forward towards a wider audience and towards a more mature sound, and has been praised particularly by fans of the genre, as one of the finest metal releases of this year.

Sludge Metal is a genre that has been pretty active, and has had tons of bands that incorporated it’s style in these recent few years. The more Atmospheric side of the genre is also very frequent in music, like it is in this particular case; there is a dark, guitar-driven atmosphere that often includes repetition. The moods can go from very light but very melancholy, to very heavy and distorted, with powerful growl vocals. While the calmer, cleaner moments resemble quite a few elements of Alternative Metal, the more brutal ones are nothing but strong Sludge Metal and Prog Death Metal. This formula is what might have turned some metal purists off, and it’ll probably do the same to whoever isn’t very much into Alt Metal. But the truth is that no matter what you think this band has talent, they write great, even catchy, melodies, and overall have a good musicianship and noticeable style.

As the album cover clearly suggests, the album has moments of rage and darkness, but also sad-sounding ones. The nature of the album itself can compared to a weak man who has an extremely tormented past and present and somehow he finds the strength to overcome all his dark fears and finally become a strong human being. It might sound corny to some, but a sense of hope, among nothing but shadows is what can be easily sensed by listening to this album as a whole.

The more delicate moments are extremely melodic, but still end up being somewhat beautiful, like the intro for the album. But mainly, UFNLDS is made of ten dark and sludgy songs with a good feel of alt metal, like I mentioned. Tracks like “Clawmaster”, “Traces Of Liberty”, “Divine Acts Of Lunacy” are good examples. But the band doesn’t avoid experimentation in their tracks; the longest of these songs, the near to nine minute.“Breakwater” incorporates many elements of typical Atmospheric Sludge Metal. “Grain” is one of those songs that also reminds of the most traditional ASM, because of it’s slight build-up.

“Until Feat No Longer Defines Us” is a very good album for Ghost Brigade, that shows promise and a hopeful bright light. I won’t guarantee that fans of the genre will dig it because of its straight-forwardness, something that usually does not belong in Sludge Metal/Prog Metal. However It seems like this didn’t bother anyone. An album I would recommend to anyone who’s into metal.

J-Man Until Fear No Longer Defines Us isn't a cheery album by any stretch - as a matter of fact, the amount of melancholy and dark atmospheres make it a rather depressing listen... but a damn impressive depressing listen, to be sure. Ghost Brigade manages to capture this melancholic atmosphere with perfection through powerful compositions, professional arrangements, and fantastic vocals. Until Fear No Longer Defines Us is the third full-length effort from this Finnish melodic sludge metal outfit, and certainly an album I'd recommend to anyone who enjoys the genre. If you're searching for something that's extremely melodic, yet still thought-provoking, challenging, and crushingly heavy, this is worth a look.

The music on Until Fear No Longer Defines Us is a mix of sludge metal, doom metal, progressive rock, and melodic metal. The extremely melancholic atmosphere and softer clean-vocal sections also lead me to think of modern alternative rock. Ghost Brigade is first and foremost focused on atmosphere, and whether it be on softer songs like "In The Woods" and "Chamber", heavy songs like "Traces of Liberty", or epic tracks like "Breakwater" and "Soulcarvers", the music is always melodic and quite beautiful. The main asset of Until Fear No Longer Defines Us lies in the sheer strength of the compositions, but the other aspects of the album certainly don't fall by the wayside either. Ghost Brigade consists of extremely gifted musicians with a knack for conveying plenty of emotion through their respective instruments, and the production is also warm and highly professional.

I was very impressed by this effort from Ghost Brigade, and I currently consider it to be one of the finest metal releases I've heard this year. Seldom do I come across an album as emotional and beautiful as Until Fear No Longer Defines Us, and hopefully this remarkable feat will put Ghost Brigade on the map for metal fans worldwide! 4 stars and a warm recommendation are well-deserved. If you like your sludge metal to be on the more melancholic and eclectic side, it's hard to go wrong with this stellar album!

Time Signature Divine act of lunacy...

Genre: sludge-doom metal / alternative rock

Ghost Brigade really manage to capture a sense of melancholy and emotional darkness on this album. They draw on the emotional landscape associated with genres such as doom metal, Gothic metal (a la Paradise Lost), melodic sludge metal and alternative rock of the more depressive and melancholic kind.

Musically, the combine the heavy riffage of sludge and doom metal with the clean guitar passages of depressive alternative rock, and to this they add the melodic leads of Paradise Lost style Gothic metal and also melodic guitar harmonies, all of which generates this very dark, depressive and some times desperate atmosphere.

The vocals are either growled or sung in a more grungy fashion, and this combination works quite well in relation to the dark nuances of the music itself.

If you like Paradise Lost-ish Gothic doom and melodic sludge metal (and depressive alternative rock), then you are bound to love "Until Fear No Longer Defines Use" by Ghost Brigade.