Armor for Sleep - What to Do When You Are Dead - Alternative - CD

Individually, each of the songs on Armor for Sleep's latest disc stand on their own as both creative and haunting. Together, the 11 tracks on What To Do When You Are Dead make for an intriguing concept album that is both unexpected and thought-provoking.

As the album title implies, the band is undertaking a deep subject as it follows a suicide victim across the boundary that separates life from death. Somehow, it manages never to wander too far into macabre territory and instead, the songs are delivered more matter-of-factly, providing a ghostly glimpse into the experience of death.

Each song builds on the next to create a complete picture of the many mindsets and stages of death, beginning with "Car Underwater." As his car is sinking into the depths, he offers up his final living thoughts on the world he is leaving behind. Pain, anger and twinges of regret follow him to his grave, and Armor For Sleep completely rocks out on the chorus of this song about teen angst gone too far.

Reality and the finality of it all begins to sink in by the second track. "The Truth About Heaven" sees the suicide victim now wishing he had waited, and he realizes that he is miserable without the ones he loves, and Heaven isn't what he expected.

That realization develops into a determination to return to earth and give life another try; on "Awkward Last Words," he describes his desire to start over with his lost love in another life. He now realizes he has a long wait until that occurs, and he turns his attention to finding ways to make time pass more quickly while he waits for another chance in another life.

Songs like "Stay On the Ground" and "A Quick Little Flight" follow the adventure of returning to earth as a restless spirit. It is best described on "Basement Ghost Singing," which is one of the album's most beautiful and haunting songs. By now, he is hanging out in the basement of his lost love and settling into his own routine, albeit reluctantly.

By the end of the album, he has accepted his fate. On "I Have Been Right All Along," he admits that he now knows the love he lost was one he was meant to have for eternity, and now it is his fate to spend that time near her, although she'll never realize it. For him, it is a fate worse than death, one that is a constant reminder of his loneliness.

To complete the album, What To Do When You Are Dead comes with a small "instruction manual" to afterlife activities and the CD booklet is beautifully illustrated, although its images are haunting. The accompanying bonus DVD provides a completely different look at the band, with music videos from its 2003 debut album, Dream to Make Believe. There's also plenty of live footage and extras that will keep die-hard fans riveted and make new fans out of those who are experiencing the band for the first time.