One year ago former I Am Ghost frontman Steven Juliano fronted Epitaph Record’s most talked about bands over the course of their 6 year career. During which they got signed to Epitaph one year after their formation, got their jump start from their EP ‘We Are Always Searching” which sprung three studio albums 2006’s “Lovers’ Requiem”, 2008’s “Those We Leave Behind”, and 2009’s “LIVE in Orange County”. Things were running in accordance to the band’s success factor and everything they had gained would soon be lost. One year after their live LP was released in 2009, Juliano would break the news of the band’s departure. According to him he says that the band had matured and grown up. The things that I Am Ghost preserved once before had lost its grip upon him and his band mates and things just weren’t cutting it so everything just had to be let go.
Thus the end of I Am Ghost was put to rest and the birth of music was envisioned again with a whole another project, Requiem For The Dead (RFTD) is Steven Juliano (vocals), TY Oliver (guitar and programming), and Fin Stobbe (bassist). The name had come to Juliano late one night and he wanted to use it to represent the remembrance of his past, of the people and love he received that were no longer there and he thought right then and there that it just fit so well he went with it. Influence taken in account for RFTD was put into effect one whole year before I Am Ghost had called it quits. During I Am Ghost’s European tour they had been gone for three months and during that time Juliano had lapsed into an illness and from then on he became depressed and angered by all who came near him. He disliked being this way with a passion and after returning home some time was spent to think things through and RFTD was brought in and everything was put into effect for the time being. After some time off I Am Ghost toured once more then everything ended and that weight was lifted off Juliano’s shoulders. Terms with the band are far behind him. Now that RFTD is within his grasp this band takes the music focus and lets the band go at their own pace doing something they love and want to create.
When the announcement of Juliano’s return to the music scene after taking some time to breath fans of I Am Ghost were ecstatic to have a listen and see what all the buzz was all about. Over a course of a few months’ hints and guesses were tossed about while more information was being said the band went onto release several demos of various recordings on the band’s Facebook page and then shot and later released a music video and now the approach of their full-length debut LP “Always and Forever” is growing ever so nearer.
“Always and Forever”, will hit the downloadable waves on the net on September 2, giving fans the chance to grab it for 100% free on the band’s website www.requiemforthedead.com. But when it comes down to the album altogether it’s broken down into being nothing like I Am Ghost whatsoever. But embraces a uniqueness all its own. As such, the album has a split personality meeting the raw intensity that is taking sound qualities of acts like Falling In Reverse meets modern day Goth rockers The Birthday Massacre. The emotion is there and keeps the music pulsing from start to finish which makes the music that more enjoyable to listen in on, over and over again.
“The Death Note of Shipwrecks”, “I’m No Angel”, ‘The Misadventure of Coffin Kid 2″, and ‘Kill or be Killed”, really preserve the essence that indicates the real powerful passion that RFTD is and who they pursue to be. These songs alone take in hand a band with talent and uniqueness that can’t be overlooked. Embracing it with the dreading passed that will cease to exist.
Fans of Falling In Reverse, The Birthday Massacre, Black Veil Brides, Escape The Fate, Aiden, and William Control will find Requiem For The Dead to their liking with ease of appeal.
by: Natalie Perez
