Ghost Tigers Rise [EP]

2)Ghost Tigers Rise
... and we're into the next song with a with a chant of "rise!". This track is all about the tension and atmosphere, setting the scene for the rest of the album. We end with a bass solo and the ever-compelling war cry of "Tiger. Army. Never. Die." It blends perfectly with the prelude, and maintains the tension as the album unfolds like a spooky comic book. Awesome.

3) Wander Alone
The guitar on this track starts off with a real funky sound - not in a James Brown though thankfully. Nick's vocals are beautiful but somewhat lacking in passion - however, when he yells "Shards of broken dreams are cutting me apart" you believe him and all is well. I'm under the Tiger Army spell once more, a great start.

4) Santa Carla Twilight
We move on to classic Tiger Army fodder next; thumping bass, melancholy distorted guitar, Nick 13's 'beautiful tortured soul' style vocals. "Eternity belongs to us, eternally lasts our love" - quintessentially Nick 13 lyrics, this is a beautiful song that runs along the same theme as previous album tracks : the girl will get her man, but it will ultimately cost her her life. Tiger Army at their very best.

5) Ghostfire
I love this track, again its classic Tiger Army. A tried and tested formula admittedly, but if it ain't broke don't fix it right? The passion I've come to adore in Nick 13's vocals is here throughout. "In the graveyard of promises... only the love I've lost burns in ghostfire" good stuff. Forget goth, this is what misery and remorse should sound like. This is one of the tracks with the essential "yell out the track title" trick- a psychobilly staple that Tiger Army seem to be especially fond of.

6) Rose Of The Devil's Garden
This has a real 1980's feel at the start, a Cure/Morrissey hybrid, if you will. The song is slower than most of the others, but it works. The harmony within the chorus is beautiful - the vocals really work well here. Any song that mentions "Transylvanian moon" was always going to rate highly with me though...

7)Atomic
I was expecting great things with this title, and I can't decide if I've been let down or not. The guitar is a lot punkier, particularly at the start, all the while retaining Nick's signature sound. The 'woah' count is plentiful, although at time it seems like an easy way of avoiding writing more lyrics. Explosive? Sure. Atomic? Maybe not.

8) What Happens?
To begin with this song sounded a lot like the rest, but the guitar style is beefed up and gets much more diverse as the track progresses. This has a really choppy feel to it, punctuated by screams and yells of "Go.. psycho!" from Mr 13. Good stuff

9) Through The Darkness
This is a good rockabilly tune, with a classic 'do wop' bassline. The guitar solo is effective with its distorted yet timeless feel. The song plods along quite merrily, but perhaps thats the issue here - it plods rather than strolls. Enjoyable but somewhat forgettable.

10) The Long Road
This sounds exactly like Outlaw Heart to begin with, and relies heavily on the guitar parts. This track certainly has its own identity, but there is a distinct feeling of 'scraping the creative barrel' here.

11) Calling
This song kicks in with a real TSOL style sound to it, or perhaps recent AFI. It actually sounds like Nick has had singing lessons - the vocals are much smoother, a little softer than usual. A nice enough song, again with an 80's feel- this is a great addition to the Tiger Army sound. Nice work.

12) Swift Silent Deadly
The drums are at full pelt as this track kicks off and this would have worked well as a prelude track. The vocals are megaphone style, which I found somewhat irritating although it certainly added to the frenetic feel of the song. Again, plenty of 'woahs' to keep the fans at the front of the show happy.

13) Sea Of Fire
This caught me off guard considering how fast the last track was. It's slow, low, down and dirty - starting with a real jazz club feel thats refreshing on the album, and back catalogue as a whole. After 1 minute it kicks into classic Tiger Army, with some great lyrics "Pleasure and destruction, are they both the same?" just what I was thinking. When Nick 13 asks "I'm going down to the sea of fire, baby won't you come?" I'm powerless to say no. The vocals are haunting, all the while the bass and guitar pounding out a fanastic overture of destruction. "The only sin is to die without having truly lived" - I love the lyrics to this one. The track ends on its 'jazz club' theme, slowly fading out. A great end to a great album.

I love this album. There are moments where perhaps the ideas were running low, but the album is a success. The songs are atmospheric and full of passion, and this a fantastic result following a turbulent year for the band

TxAxNxDx