UNTIL ALL THE GHOSTS ARE GONE

Anekdoten returns after a long absence to gift us with Until All the Ghosts Are Gone, another rock solid entry into the 'heavy prog' sub-genre, and heavy it is, abounding with massive bass and guitar riffing, and pounding, tension-filled songs. However, it's also filled with beauty and nuance through artfully arranged songs and many- layered sounds of mellotron and organ.

"Shooting Star" wastes no time in showing us why Anekdoten remains one of the more powerful, creative, and heavy sounding bands around - even after 8 years of hiatus. The two guitarists lay down an amazing amount of sound, crushing the listener during the song's numerous fortissimo moments while also showing their restraint during other moments. The use of negative space and ambiance has always been a strong suit for the band, and here it's juxtaposed to the massive riffing - and not to mention unexpectedly aggressive soloing from Barker - very well indeed. It's an optimistic song that takes you to places dark and bright in 10 jam-packed minutes of thick, heavy, wonderful music; off to a great start, though things get much darker thematically from here on out.

"Get Out Alive" sadly takes a while to get going, weighed down by vocals that plod along until electrified by a terrific instrumental break that concludes with a sense of strong sense of drifting melancholy. A busy song, even though slow tempo, and probably the weakest on the album.

The wonderful "If It All Comes Down to You" shows the band's ability to craft very likable and approachable music using a blend of sensitively incorporated mellotron, vibes, and guitar tones. It's about as pop-friendly song that the band has ever produced, though its complex instrumentation and prog-feel probably won't convince people who aren't use to listening to music this dense. Still, its a great moment of lightness in the mix, even though it's basically a break-up song, and the contributions by Theo Travis' flute soloing is a great touch.

"Writing on the Wall" continues in achingly melancholic form, being excellently composed for dramatic and emotive effect, especially the four minutes of instrumental work that concludes the song. This leads me to album's conclusion, "Our Days Are Numbered," a powerful instrumental song with amazing tension and performances throughout. Once again, when Anekdoten is at their best, they absolutely nail it. This may be one of their best songs, and it certainly carries an 'end of the world' feel to it's rousing climax.

While not a perfect album, Until All the Ghosts Are Gone does a tremendous amount of things exceptionally well. This doesn't surprise me, given my ratings of past Anekdoten albums; the band rises above in so many ways, but there's just something illusive that keeps the music from resonating with me. It's this lack of emotional connection that I've decided to keep my rating at a 4-star. You will not be disappointed with Until All the Ghosts Are Gone, but if you're like me, you probably won't connect or remember much of it specifically afterwards. A great album for fans of loud, heavy, artistic rock.

Songwriting: 4 - Instrumental Performances: 5 - Lyrics/Vocals: 3 - Style/Emotion/Replay: 4