ETHERSENS

I've acquainted myself fairly well with the post-scene over the last several years, and there are bands I certainly do enjoy. Take for example Sigur Ros, supremely talented in creating deep musical atmospheres that completely draw in the listener to a unique listening experience. There's also bands like Anathema, who mold the unique textures of post rock with absolutely stunning musicianship and songwriting. I enjoy bands that take something that is fascinating in a small dose, and break the genre in their own way. Ethersens' contribution to this movement is a world that's dark enough to be uncomfortable, without seeming altogether worthwhile.

Post/progressive metal lives and breathes dynamic emotion that brings the soundscapes to life. Ethersens however, impressed me significantly on the first song, and then significantly less on each subsequent track. They're taking a melancholy, borderline angry sadness, and slowing it down to absolute tedium to satisfy a directionless artistic vision. I can say by the time I was finished listening to this album, my only appreciation was a vague positive association I had with the guitar tone, which, although stronger as the album went on, ultimately qualified as polish on something I didn't care to look at to begin with.

For those with the endurance to sit through to the end, Your Wandering Ghost does end on two songs I can legitimately enjoy: "Waking Disorder" and "To Live Is To Forget". However, by now the damage is done. Ethersens manages to create sparks of brilliance at certain points throughout the album, but their ambition is simply less than their confidence. There is, I am sure, a kind of angsty listener with which this could potentially resonate well. However, there is nothing noteworthy I could really point out. For a progressive album, I am completely underwhelmed with the quality and creativity of the music, and there's not enough great guitar tones in the world to save an album from that.

1.75 // 5

Sonically, Your Wandering Ghost is a progressive metal album at heart, but a lot of the material here isn't 'metal' in the true sense. The band spends far more time focusing the song structures and the moods on this record, and less on showy solos or messy time signature changes. A lot of this album is far closer to heavy progressive rock as opposed to progressive metal, with much of the album being in a softer and more atmospheric mood, with some electronics even sneaking in on "Same Goodbye". Anyone who knows me will know that this is pretty much the recipe of how to impress me in progressive music, but I will try to remove as much bias as possible to assess this record, and even then, this is still a solid album.

In regards to the direction of this album, the band claims that they tried to focus on emotion as the primary goal, and although I can't say this album had me in tears, there are certainly some very intense moments in the heavier sections, counterpointed by some melancholic and beautiful softer moments. Much of the intensity, in my ears, comes down to the combination of some very good tones on the kit, with an excellent and tight drum performance from Stephane Nestiri. For me, nothing gets my blood pumping more than a fantastic drum performance, and underneath some of the chilling and epic guitar parts, the drums here are undeniably one of the standout parts of this album. The tones are full and pumping, hard-hitting but not repetitive, and the patterns played are straight enough to convey the intense, pounding feeling in the heavier sections, but varied enough to appeal to those critically-minded listeners, who love a bit of left- field twists in the instrumentalists (the blast beats at the start of "Reflect" come to mind).

But aside from very few occasions, this record doesn't seem to throw too many turns at the listener, instrumentally. Most of the music fits into a specific groove and continues it, unlike much prog metal, which likes to change signature every two bars and confuse the hell out of everyone. I love the way the album puts its progressive side into structures and mood changes, in the way an Opeth album would. Ethersens run from intense and metal to atmospheric and beautiful so smoothly that everything feels natural in the transitions, and although this sort of structuring can get a bit tiring and repetitive (once again pointing at Opeth), none of the songs here run excessively long, and new melodies are introduced at good intervals to keep the music interesting.

The guitar work here is put far more on the back burner than with a lot of progressive metal, with the two guitarists focusing far more on riffs and chords than shreds and solos. My favourite part of the guitar work here is definitely the use of some mini-leads that come underneath the vocal- led parts, with the second guitarist playing the chords (often done using some Opethian slide- riffing), while the lead guitarist plays little licks that act as subtleties, in the same way as a band like Dead Letter Circus do.

There's not really much I can say negatively about Your Wandering Ghost, but I guess this really is just my kind of prog metal. After the first track, you really know what this album as a whole sounds like, with the exceptions of some brief moments of electronics or intense metal, and for those who like a bit of variation in their music, this may run a bit dry. My biggest problem (although it's a small one still) is that I'm honestly not feeling vocalist Laurent Mora for a good deal of this record. He's not bad, but the combination of his strong accent with his vocals occasionally slipping into 'tough-guy' hard rock-style semi-cleans mean that I'm not too keen on them on occasions, and even some of the vocal melodies are a bit meh, but this is really me nitpicking. Your Wandering Ghost is an excellent album for those who love melody and atmosphere in their progressive metal, and I'm sure a whole lot of progressive rock fans will find something to love here, since the metal doesn't really seem to be too in-your-face.

7.5

Originally written for my Facebook page/blog: www.facebook.com/neoprogisbestprog

There are some peaceful passages of mournful guitar such as the outro of Waking Disorder and in particular the opening cut of the album Two for One Mind. The atmosphere is rather bleak in these moments but causes one to reflect on what we have and we may lose along the way. I like the style of the band, in particular the way the raspy vocals integrate within a dirty guitar sound. The guitars of Mickaël André and Johan Bourrut ring out consistently and the music does not rely on killer riffs and lead guitar finesse, but an overall saturated sound that is raucous without becoming overbearing.

Perhaps the theme is better conveyed in the lyrics to the closing song, "To Live Is to Forget", "Everything comes to an end, so now we can't forgive, everything clings to a new start so now I can't forget, a lifetime is way too long." Overall the album delivers the type of Avant metal that has great appeal, without all the lead breaks and choppy cleverness, but rather is soaked in heartfelt emotion.