GHOST BATH — Starmourner (review)

GHOST BATH — Starmourner album cover Album · 2017 · Depressive Black Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
2/5 ·
Kev Rowland
I was sent this by the record label to review, but still know virtually nothing about the band. I know it’s their third album, and that they were formed by Nameless (vocals, guitar, piano), but even though they are touring and there are five of them in the band the guys aren’t listed on the press release, or the band’s own homepage, or their Facebook page (I tried, honest). In addition, their debut EP was released on both a Russian and Chinese label, and I don’t even know what country they’re from! Apparently the stories, or parables, look into Jewish angelology and the hierarchy of angels as found in the bible and other religious texts," says Nameless. Although the album has a definitive joyful and hopeful feel, it is still drenched in depression and sorry, as any true Ghost Bath record should be."

So, they’ve put a lot of work into staying anonymous, apparently so that listeners aren’t distracted from their brand of depressive black metal. And I can understand why listeners might easily be distracted, as in all fairness this isn’t all that good. Easily the best parts of this album are the artwork (and apparently the CD booklet has each track accompanied by a beautifully crafted painting as well as a "parable" to read alongside), and the first song which is a delicate piano instrumental. The rest of it is well-recorded and produced but these are the only positive comments I really have. In “Ambrosial” the same chord is repeated so many times that I felt like slashing my wrists or turning the album off, whichever I could get the most energy for.

Black Metal as a genre contains many groundbreaking and inspiring bands, this isn’t one of them.
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adg211288 wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I bought their last album on a whim because I saw it cheap. It has some nice stuff on it but it's not a favourite or an album I fancy playing too often. And I can't shake the feeling that their whole 'screams with no words' thing is an unintentional parody of the whole extreme metal scene where you can't follow the lyrics.

What I've heard about this album is that it's more of the same yet goes on for about half an hour longer, which sounds like it's going to outstay its welcome and as such I don't find myself particularly interested in hearing it.

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