Review Summary: Ghost Bath's happy-go-lucky approach goes downhill.
To some, Ghost Bath has always seemed like the punch-line to a few jokes in the metal community. You might hear the one about the fact that they are nowhere near to earning the reputation of ‘the next Deafheaven’, which dedicated fans will label them as. Then, there’s the one about the fact that there they actually aren’t an instrumental band, yet feature no lyrics whatsoever. Although, the infamous one is that the band members previously revealed that they’re actually American whereas before, they identified their origins as Chinese in an ironic way to remain as obscure as possible, thus enhancing their mystique.
Conversely, the music that the band plays is the polar opposite of a joke. The term “Ghost Bath” is derived from the suicidal act of submerging oneself inside a body of water, plus, each band member retains anonymity in the band; except for their vocalist, Dennis Mikula. Furthermore, Ghost Bath employs a mixture of black metal’s harsher elements and combines them with the bleak soundscapes of post-rock in order to project a sensation of a cacophonous depression. Like them or not, there’s no denying the lengths and passion Ghost Bath put into their vision.
Ghost Bath’s third album now sees the band attempting to confront this depression and inject feelings of positivity into their songs. The nerve to alter their established tone is, of course, admirable. However, this alteration does not yield a positive reaction. Overlong crescendos and an inability to edit songs mean the band extracts every drop of patience from their audience during songs such as “Ambrosial”, where the intended climaxes are entirely anticlimactic. Moreover, the tone of the album is completely predictable. Every track title is a synonym of the word ‘heavenly’ and similarly, each song is analogous to the rest. “Seraphic”, “Luminescence” and “Thrones” all feature parallel rhythms with animated leads and atmospheres. Everything about
“Starmourner” is so irritatingly repetitious that there isn’t much else to say about the album without, ironically, repeating myself.
Nevertheless, more problems arise. As mentioned, Ghost Bath seem to have a single formula when it comes to creating their joyful atmosphere: tremolo riffing as much as possible, add some animated leads over the top and include some sort of mournful interlude; repeat at will. Glossing over this one-directional method, the devaluing production becomes evident. The scratching tremolo that both guitarists bounce off each other at the start of “Thrones” sounds like static noise while the drums on the latter half of “Principalities” are blanketed by despondent grooves and forthright bass.
Unexpectedly, Dennis Mikula’s wailing is actually one of the best features about
“Starmourner”. Throughout the album, his wordless cries alternate at various intervals to evoke a different sensation. During Ghost Bath’s melancholic rhythms, his contorting snarls express feelings of menace which heighten the grim, depressing foundation that Ghost Bath was originally built on. Meanwhile, asphyxiating howls erupt during the few moments of Cascadian black metal on
“Starmourner” suggest torment, strengthening their aesthetics of helpless pain and suffering. The only drawback here is, once again, the single-minded technique considering that all Mikula is doing is repeatedly yowling over the top of unadventurous instrumentation. For 71 minutes.
Overall,
“Starmourner”” is a conflicting album. Admittedly, fans of Ghost Bath may welcome this fresh, light-hearted direction. However, after three albums, anyone else’s opinion of this band is not going to change in the slightest.
