Single review: I Am Ghost – Bone Garden

Four minutes and fifteen seconds of I Am Ghost’s “Bone Garden” are all it takes for me to understand that chopping up early Feeder and splicing it into a roaring Fear Factory tune is not necessarily a marriage made for listening. It is, genuinely, as if the two bands have collided and become wedged within each other.

If this is “post-hardcore”, then bring back hardcore. “Bone Garden” seems unfocused, as if I Am Ghost were in a period of transition rather than following their muse to the end. It sounds disjointed, and the melodic verses and choruses are in direct contrast to the throat-curdling techno-metal verses and choruses that pepper the whole song. Oddly, I’d like to hear each part bolstered up into its own separate songs.

I’ve little idea what I Am Ghost are singing about (although they swear nicely) but it’s hardly ground-breaking: “it’s gonna rain, it’s gonna rain on your parade tonight”? When will bands start working on the lyrics as much as they work on the sound?

I Am Ghost have potential, good musical moments and a terrible addiction to songs written by committee showcasing everyone’s talents. If only a dictator would seize power… “Bone Garden” sounds more early-days than all-conquering heroes. I’d be intrigued to hear the album though.