(how to live) AS GHOSTS – Album Review

The title to the latest 10 Years’ album, (how to live) AS GHOSTS, is a direct play on words for the band, as they were trying to find out how to live after they had considered themselves basically dead. The band’s previous album, 2015’s From Birth to Burial, highlighted an identity crisis for 10 Years. Even the title for their 2015 project can be taken literal, as well; lead singer Jesse Hasek told Blabbermouth that he named the album “because [he] thought it was [their] final album. It just didn’t feel like 10 Years…” With the hole already dug, 10 Years were simply waiting on what to write on the epitaph.

But 2017 saw a brighter future for the band that had presumed themselves dead, as original members Brian Vondinh and Matt Wantland rejoined the band for their latest album. Hasek told Blabbermouth that “having [Vondink and Wantland] back is really a reunion of the core writing team. [(how to live) AS GHOSTS] feels like a real rebirth for the band.” This is evident in their lead single, ‘Novacaine’. The painfully depressing meaning of the song – it talks of the truly monotonous and life-numbing reality of reaching adulthood – coincides well with the song’s ironically upbeat melody.

With (how to live) AS GHOSTS, 10 Years are able to recapture the sound that they possessed in their earlier projects. To me, (how to live) reminds me of a more polished version of 2008’s Division, which is 10 Years’ third project. Not saying that their new album is better than their 2008 effort, but that the maturity of the band can be detected through the sound and production of the new album in its entirety. Songs such as ‘Ghosts’ and ‘Lucky You’ are reminiscent to Division songs like ‘Russian Roulette’ and ‘Alabama’. ‘Blood Red Sky’ is perhaps the most beautifully written song that 10 Years have written, and it reminds me a lot of the hypnotizing ‘Focus’ off of Division. The bonus tracks that come along with the physical copy of (how to live), led by the ominous cover of Nirvana’s ‘Heart-Shaped Box’, makes buying the physical copy worth it. (how to live) contains many songs that seemingly could be interchangeable with songs from Division without ruining the fluidity of either album.

This album brings back the version of 10 Years that people came to love with the release of their breakthrough album, The Autumn Effect, in 2005. From Birth to Burial may have been their experimental piece, but it heavily lacked the band’s original sound. With (how to live) AS GHOSTS comes a complete resurrection for the band in a time in the band’s career that it was needed the most. With multiple song titles on the album that are related to the afterlife (i.e. ‘Ghosts’, ‘Phantoms’, ‘Catacombs’, ‘Halos’), perhaps 10 Years are ready to find out how to live, you guessed it, as ghosts. And now that the band has officially outlived their name, perhaps a name change is in order for 10 Years. However, 20 Years just doesn’t roll off the tongue as nice.

Top 3 Songs: Rating: 7.5 / 10

1.) Blood Red Sky

2.) Ghosts

3.) Novacaine

**Note: this review was written in March 2018