Shadow Gallery: Digital Ghosts Progressive Metal InsideOut Music November 3rd, 2009 With Honor - 9:59 Venom - 6:22 Pain - 6:22 Gold Dust - 6:45 Strong - 6:50 Digital Ghost - 9:37 Huanted - 9:37 Comment on this review!	Links: - Band Logo - Google Video Search - Official Myspace - Official Website - InsideOut Music Review information: - Release length: 55:32 - Review posted on April 17th, 2010
Discography Full-Length(s): Shadow Gallery (1992) | Carved in Stone (1995) | Tyranny (1998) | Legacy (2001) | Room V (2005) | Digital Ghosts (2009) EP(s): Room V Radio Cuts (2005) Compilation(s): Prime Cuts (2007) Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed.
Review In the time between this and the release of Room V, Shadow Gallery's vocalist Mike Baker passed away due a heart attack. Just shy of one year since his passing, Shadow Gallery issue their sixth studio full-length recording, Digital Ghosts, with new vocalist Brian Ashland. While it's to be expected, this recording simply didn't sound right on the first time through, and no matter how many times you listen to it, if you've heard any material prior to this release, chances are good it won't feel the same for you either. This makes it hard, since the album is, for the most part, and exceptional piece of Progressive music. Shadow Gallery have come up with a really good album here, though you really wouldn't guess it from the very traditional sounding opener, "With Honor", which seems to take forever before the silence that starts to song off actually leads to any real music from the band, but even then fades in ridiculously slow once it's even audible. Much of the music still merges on the Progressive Rock and Metal worlds, having a nice bite to a good number of the tracks on here. However, the vocalist, who is indeed good at what he does, brings a whole other element to the music that really just presents the music in a different light. This isn't a bad thing at all, as his more edgier vocal style works well for some of the harder tracks on here like "Venom". But, unfortunately, while there's some solid music here that really sets some fantastic tones throughout the album, this isn't quite the band's best work. Yes, it does kick off to a rocky start, as mentioned already, but that's not the only drawback to the album.The more romantic track "Gold Dust" will leave a somewhat empty feeling thanks to music that has everything needed to be considered a good Progressive track, but simply isn't anything too spectacular at all. This track, as well as "With Honor" are both rather forgetable tracks. Aside that, the rest of the album has some solid music, but there's just nothing that really sticks out aside the more Metal song "Venom", and the obscure-sounding "Strong". "Haunted" also makes for a good listen, starting off as a keyboard heavy ballad track that eventually works into a more Progressive Rock track that comes off as an uplifting track that really showcases the new singer's range. Digital Ghosts is a good album, there is no denying that. The only issue is that there are a few tracks here that aren't really all that inspiring, save for the closing track "Haunted" and a few of the harder tracks. With a few forgetable recordings presented here, mixed in with some catchy and heavier songs that leave a much longer lasting imprint on the listener, a good usage of ambience throughout, and a solid performance by the band, it's hard to sit back and not enjoy this album as a whole for a few listens. However, by the end, there are tracks you'll inevitably start skipping in future releases, making this an album to sample for the fans of either the band or style.