By: Josh Nichols
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 07/04/2017
Label: Nuclear Blast
From the gentle piano intro of “Astral” to the
vibrant and triumphant radiance of “Seraphic”, the tone of the album is pushed
ever outward to match the theme of an infinite dream. It’s a theme that weaves
its way through the whole album. There are certainly tracks that dive back into
blast beats and hyper tremolo picking such as “Ambrosial” and “Elysian”, but
the theme always returns to shimmering and heroic major chords.
“Starmourner” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1. Astral (3:20)
2. Seraphic (5:50)
3. Ambrosial (8:30)
4. Ethereal (6:54)
5. Celestial (8:14)
6. Angelic (5:23)
7. Luminescence (6:08)
8. Thrones (6:20)
9. Elysian (5:22)
10. Cherubim (4:26)
11. Principalities (6:14)
12. Ode (4:28)
The Review:
On the April 7th, Ghost
Bath released “Starmourner”, their much anticipated follow up
to “Moonlover”, via Nuclear Blast.
If you thought their last record caused division in the black metal ranks, get
ready for more vitriolic gnashing of teeth. With “Starmourner”, Ghost Bath reach heights of triumphant
exuberance unheard of in the post black metal or “blackgaze” genre. The level
of ebullience they surpass has only been hinted at by their oft mentioned
contemporaries Deafheaven and Alcest. Going a great leap further into
throwing out the cvlt playbook, Ghost Bath
are opting instead to realize their vision without the constraints of genre
limitations inherent with any label we can slap on them.
If you’re already familiar with their work, then you
know that Ghost Bath had little
regard for what black metal is “supposed” to sound like to begin with. “Starmourner”
stakes their claim to the vanguard of a growing metal subset that is
reimagining heavy metal without boundaries or definitions. Where labels are
unnecessary and genres again become what they were meant to be, simple guide
posts for the listener, not artistic rules to live and die by. If this
sounds a little too much like Neo at the end of the Matrix, just remember that
he wasn’t prepared for the red pill either.
It just can’t be overstated, that coming from their
previous effort, “Starmourner” is strikingly different. Even fans of Ghost Bath and other bands from the new wave
of post black metal will be caught off guard. From the gentle piano intro
of “Astral” to the vibrant and triumphant radiance of “Seraphic”,
the tone of the album is pushed ever outward to match the theme of an infinite
dream. It’s a theme that weaves its way through the whole album. There are
certainly tracks that dive back into blast beats and hyper tremolo picking such
as “Ambrosial” and “Elysian”, but the theme always returns to
shimmering and heroic major chords. The best example of this is “Celestial”.
The leads are so bright and soaring that they could have been used for a Top
Gun promo. The now familiar vocals, part screaming eagle, part howling banshee,
lend themselves to the ethereal quality of the music.
The pastoral interlude “Angelic” acts as a
kind of reset in the middle of the album. The lovely and lilting plucking may
serve as a pallet cleansing to those listeners struggling with the effervescent
motif being built in their blackened ears. The OSBM sacrilege continues
however, with the driving and anthemic “Luminescence”. Not surprisingly,
this track shares qualities that their tour mates Astronoid
have in spades. Having caught their Portland
The back half is easily the more caustic and
aggressive half of “Starmourner”, still flirting with the airy
theatrical qualities found earlier, but with more marked departures into
brooding blackened rampages and intensified vocal cacophonies. “Cherubim”
comes on almost rock and roll before detouring into the dark abyss beneath the
surface, and “Principalities” feels almost frustrated and subdued in
relation to the larger body of work. The lengthy album winds to a close
with “Ode”, another gentle piano number that I find very reminiscent of
the closing theme to the old Incredible Hulk TV show. A lonely David
Banner walking away once more, no hope and no end in sight. “Starmourner“is
going to leave some listeners exhilarated and some scratching their head.
Either is fine. Ghost Bath
don’t seem concerned with the reception they are given. If you find yourself
having trouble reconciling what you’re hearing with your hard wired
preconceptions (and many of us will) take a look at recent interview with
Locust Leaves (here), where the topic is discussed much more
thoroughly.
“Starmourner” is available here
Band
info: facebook
