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Ghost Brigade - Isolation Songs



8.6 | 384 votes |
Release date: 3 August 2009
Style: Alternative metal, Post-metal

Owners:

388 have it
51 want it


01. Suffocated
02. My Heart Is A Tomb
03. Into The Black Light
04. Lost In A Loop
05. 22:22 - Nihil
06. Architect Of New Beginnings
07. Birth
08. Concealed Revulsions
09. Secrets Of The Earth
10. A Storm Inside
11. Liar [first edition bonus]

Top 20 albums of 2009: 7

Guest review by
Monolithic
Rating:
8.4
Atmospheric Sludge, Melodic Doom/Death, Progressive Death Metal, whatever... This Finnish quintet (occasionally supported by Aleksi Munter of Swallow the Sun fame) has tried to stay away from the typical limitations of modern genre debates that happen in music communities.

If their 2007 debut, "Guided by Fire" is considered to be raw and touching, "Isolation Songs" clearly reflects the maturity and the prowess of their songwriting, often believed to be influenced by European Doom/Gothic/Dark bands such as Katatonia or Paradise Lost. However, I believe it would be a waste of time if we put so much effort into Comparison and investigation to see where their influences come from.

Read more ››
published 11.09.2012 | Comments (3)

26.02.2010
There's something about this album that makes you want to play it again and again. Isolation Songs is very addictive indeed, with a multitude of catchy riffs and hooks. Each song is separately memorable, but they also work very well as a whole, flowing naturally from one into another, balancing between being aggressively rough and hauntingly melancholic, with a lot of acoustic passages and clean vocals. Isolation Songs sounds like a cross between Dark Tranquillity and Porcupine Tree, with a unique powerful atmosphere that lingers long after the last song stops.

Ivan's picks | More picks ››

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Comments

Comments: 29   Visited by: 967 users
24.10.2010 - 07:14
Rating: 10
INÆRIS

MONUMENTAL. This album changed my life. Incredible work. If you've been thirsting for something beautiful, this is it.
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Still Life, Still Death
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31.10.2010 - 00:25
Rating: 8
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
Written by INÆRIS on 24.10.2010 at 07:14

MONUMENTAL. This album changed my life. Incredible work. If you've been thirsting for something beautiful, this is it.


Did you pick up Guided By Fire too? Same formula...excellant stuff!
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rekt
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01.11.2010 - 08:23
Rating: 10
INÆRIS

Written by tea[m]ster on 31.10.2010 at 00:25

Written by INÆRIS on 24.10.2010 at 07:14

MONUMENTAL. This album changed my life. Incredible work. If you've been thirsting for something beautiful, this is it.


Did you pick up Guided By Fire too? Same formula...excellant stuff!


I sure did. Guided by Fire is phenomenal. Not quite as good as Isolation Songs, but definitely a must-have. Their music is so moving, and I can really deeply relate to their lyrics. I can't wait until the next one.
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Still Life, Still Death
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22.03.2011 - 11:01
Rating: 10
Therapy?

This has by far been the most beautiful new gem I have discovered this year. Saw them live during a concert with Amorphis and I was thouroughly impressed. I bought their latest album there + a shirt and that's the best CD buy I did in quite a while!

Heavy clear voice mixed with strong growls and excellent guitarwork. What more can one ask?
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14.04.2011 - 13:38
Deadsoulman

This one is slowly working its way to the top of my favourite albums of all time. It's been on constant rotation in my car and at home for over one year. It's the first time I can listen to an album several times in a row since I discovered Master Of Puppets, Seasons In The Abyss and Vulgar Display Of Power back in 1994. Some days it's the only thing I listen to. I have no idea why this particular album clicked with me like that...
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15.05.2011 - 17:32
Rating: 10
Argônio

Ghost Brigade is one of that special bands, their music so rejuvenating, makes me feel so good. This album its so addictive and profound, I just forget everything thats around me and focus only in the music and just a few albums can do that to me.

\m/ INTO THE BLACK LIGHT
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19.05.2011 - 04:27
Rating: 10
Pyramid God

Very very good album, all songs are terrific. Liar and Birth are standouts IMO.
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26.05.2011 - 20:18
MechanisT
Account deleted
Written by Pyramid God on 19.05.2011 at 04:27

Very very good album, all songs are terrific. Liar and Birth are standouts IMO.


Mine too. I'd like to throw "My Heart Is A Tomb" in there as well.
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15.06.2011 - 02:00
Daydream Nation
Account deleted
Written by Guest on 26.05.2011 at 20:18

Written by Pyramid God on 19.05.2011 at 04:27

Very very good album, all songs are terrific. Liar and Birth are standouts IMO.


Mine too. I'd like to throw "My Heart Is A Tomb" in there as well.

Hell, all the songs rock. Particularly 22:22-- Nihil.
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15.06.2011 - 02:01
MechanisT
Account deleted
Written by Guest on 15.06.2011 at 02:00

Written by Guest on 26.05.2011 at 20:18

Written by Pyramid God on 19.05.2011 at 04:27

Very very good album, all songs are terrific. Liar and Birth are standouts IMO.


Mine too. I'd like to throw "My Heart Is A Tomb" in there as well.

Hell, all the songs rock. Particularly 22:22-- Nihil.


22:22 - Nihil = awesome.
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04.10.2011 - 09:18
Rating: 6
Cryzpin

No offence, but you must be kidding with those ratings - this album is bloody boring.
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04.10.2011 - 17:15
Rating: 8
Risto
Wandering Midget
Written by Cryzpin on 04.10.2011 at 09:18

No offence, but you must be kidding with those ratings - this album is bloody boring.

Well, what can I say? This is not at all what you seem to prefer
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04.10.2011 - 23:27
Rating: 6
Cryzpin

Written by Risto on 04.10.2011 at 17:15

Well, what can I say? This is not at all what you seem to prefer

It's not the genre or some attribute of the music, but as i listened very carefully all songs are very same, same structure, same pace, same feeling, the fragments of melodies are endless variations of the same few tones. There is no point, no concept, no surprise.
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15.10.2011 - 20:29
D.a.n

Written by Cryzpin on 04.10.2011 at 23:27

Written by Risto on 04.10.2011 at 17:15

Well, what can I say? This is not at all what you seem to prefer

It's not the genre or some attribute of the music, but as i listened very carefully all songs are very same, same structure, same pace, same feeling, the fragments of melodies are endless variations of the same few tones. There is no point, no concept, no surprise.

Funny that you should say that because I think the songs are DEFINITELY not the same or similar to an unhealthy extent. Of course, there is a unifying pattern (the mood, in particular) but I would never go so far as to say that the slower songs with (predominantly) clear vocals are the same as the fast ones... Just compare Into the Black Light [one of many songs with more than just 'fragments' of melody, I daresay] with, say, Suffocated. Do you hear the same, 'very same' songs, structure, pace and feeling? C'mon!
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03.12.2011 - 06:34
Rating: 10
Melkor

Fuckin sexy!!!i just heard it n it blew me away!!!
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14.12.2011 - 06:02
Slinky666
Account deleted
O.K. Ghost Brigade lives on.
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12.03.2012 - 13:41
Rating: 9
doom777

Written by Pyramid God on 19.05.2011 at 04:27

Very very good album, all songs are terrific. Liar and Birth are standouts IMO.


Awesome album! Excellent music!
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19.11.2012 - 21:59
Alex F
Slick Dick Rick
Written by MyNameJeff on 31.08.2012 at 00:55

Sounds like Insomnium
i didnt expect this... it doesn't sound like regular sludge but it's still awesome!!

This really sounds nothing like Insomnium
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29.09.2013 - 01:58
Rating: 8
Risto
Wandering Midget
Written by Loendt on 28.09.2013 at 21:13

Full of excellent tracks. This band is a strange mix between Gothic Metal, Sludge Metal and Melodic Death Metal, It's really nice.

I like to call them "gothic sludge metal", instead of atmospheric that's often associated with post-metal
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29.09.2013 - 21:18
Rating: 10
Loendt

Written by Risto on 29.09.2013 at 01:58

Written by Loendt on 28.09.2013 at 21:13

Full of excellent tracks. This band is a strange mix between Gothic Metal, Sludge Metal and Melodic Death Metal, It's really nice.

I like to call them "gothic sludge metal", instead of atmospheric that's often associated with post-metal


Accidently I deleted my post.
But yeah... Post-Metal isn't a great tag or a musical subgenre name.
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29.09.2013 - 21:33
Rating: 8
Risto
Wandering Midget
Written by Loendt on 29.09.2013 at 21:18

But yeah... Post-Metal isn't a great tag or a musical subgenre name.

I didn't mean it's a bad name for a genre, it can just be misleading for a band like Ghost Brigade.
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17.11.2014 - 05:45
Rating: 10
Wes

Wonderful. Discovered it only after One with The Storm.
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24.12.2014 - 02:33
Rating: 9
ViggoViking

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02.09.2020 - 04:18
jawharessence

Both IS and UFNLDU are pretty good. But I find the latter album more emotional, which isn't to say that IS lacks this quality. I just hear more emotion on Until Fear...
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30.10.2020 - 17:28
Rating: 7
Mountain King
K i K o
It has a nice mood and it fits the album title and the band's name however, I prefer the slower clean parts. The heavier parts, are mostly generic instrumentally and vocally similar to x bands.
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30.10.2020 - 18:00
JoHn Doe

Written by Mountain King on 30.10.2020 at 17:28

It has a nice mood and it fits the album title and the band's name however, I prefer the slower clean parts. The heavier parts, are mostly generic instrumentally and vocally similar to x bands.


I disagree that this band made generic music. Not when this album was made or when the band started. Maybe today, this sound has been done a lot, but when this came out, it was not generic.
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I thought the two primary purposes for the internet were cat memes and overreactions.
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31.10.2020 - 14:54
Rating: 7
Mountain King
K i K o
Written by JoHn Doe on 30.10.2020 at 18:00

Written by Mountain King on 30.10.2020 at 17:28

It has a nice mood and it fits the album title and the band's name however, I prefer the slower clean parts. The heavier parts, are mostly generic instrumentally and vocally similar to x bands.


I disagree that this band made generic music. Not when this album was made or when the band started. Maybe today, this sound has been done a lot, but when this came out, it was not generic.


Mmm 2009 is not that far away man, I don't have the examples ready in my head and I don't feel like doing a research just to prove my point. You could be right however, I am strongly inclined to the fact that very similar heavy growling parts have been done since the early 2000s, maybe even very late 1990's (1998, 1999). And just to add, even if they were the first to do it, I don't really like it. Although I am big fan of clean vocals, I can still very much enjoy growling (Some Dark Tranquility, Amon Amarth, Death, early Scar Symmetry, Opeth etc.)

The highlights for me in this record are the slower songs/parts, the clean passages and the atmosphere they create.
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18.04.2022 - 14:31
ikakoika

Best Post- Alternative metal album all time.
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06.02.2024 - 08:25
Rating: 6
AndyMetalFreak
A Nice Guy
There seems to be a lot of emphasis on the thought-provoking lyrics melancholic approach, however, there's very few moments I find interesting, the Instrumentation is ok but nothing really captures my attention and I find the vast majority kinda bland. I'm a wee bit disappointed and I expected more tbh.
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