Less than a year old, this gothis OC-styled five-piece have already honed their sound: a jet-propelled bullet of male/femal vocals, brutal yet melodic...

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Less than a year old, this gothis OC-styled five-piece have already honed their sound: a jet-propelled bullet of male/femal vocals, brutal yet melodic and employing tactful use of violin and keys. The latter often offers light relief from the charging Buffy fan lyrics and fast-paced hard rock. It's rare for a new band to release a debut so fully formed and thoughtout. From the structures of individual songs to the lie of the mini-albums as a whole, this is mature and rewarding, even if it does borrow from MCR's signature slasher-rock. The polarisation of hard and soft continues in IAG's sound: the heavy could belong toKillswitch, the melody to Jimmy Eat World. While derivitive, IAG have enough originality and strong songs to go around the world and up the charts.

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Once a haven for social outcasts, goth has gradually infiltrated mainstream mall culture, losing most of its hardcore progenitors along the way. Gothic...

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Once a haven for social outcasts, goth has gradually infiltrated mainstream mall culture, losing most of its hardcore progenitors along the way. Gothic punk bands have experienced the same rise in popularity, turning cult acts like Alkaline Trio and AFI into major stars.
If the lack of discernible dispatches from Davey Havok & Co. has forced you to smear your mascara and chip your black nail varnish, you'll fall madly in love with I Am Ghost's macabre blend of shock-rock theatrics and bloodletting punk ferocity. These six black-veiled figures reimagine The Misfits through Lisa Germano's eyes. We are Always Searching is a forty minute ride on the headless horseman of gallows punk, heedlessly galloping through goth, emo, hardcore and pop-punk in its pursuit of white-knuckle thrills and the blood of a virgin sacrifice.

They band is far more studious than their Interview with the Vampire appearance would suggest, swirling everything from Cocteau Twins-style grandeur ("Lady Madeline in Her Coffin") to moments of Dead Can Dance-like derision ("The Dead Girl Epilogue: Part One") into their screamy gallows-punk Molotov cocktails. "The Most Beautiful Nightmare Pt. 2" whips its head around on a panicky rhythm, arpeggios flying as dual vocal lines scream bloody murder in the shadowy backdrop, while the droning, despondent "Civil War and Isolation Thirst" is offset by a lash of metallic guitar and a rousing chorus. The explosive title track and the raging "Eulogies and Epitaphs" are bombastic calls-to-arms -- the soundtrack to a thousand painted-up goth kids taking their revenge on the jocks that have tormented them for longer than they can

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