Kev Rowland
It is safe to say that I was not a fan of Ghost Bath’s last album, 2017’s ‘Starmourner’, and I said that by far the best thing about it was the artwork! The band were still hiding their identities at the time (at one point everyone was convinced they were Chinese), but this time around I have full details in the press release, and they are not Chinese but hail from North Dakota. Originally a solo project by Dennis Mikula (vocals/guitars/synths/lyrics), before becoming a full band with the addition of Tim Church (guitars), John Olivier (guitars), Joshua Jaye (bass), and Jason Hirt (drums). All albums prior to this one were written by Dennis, but this time around it was a band effort even with the rest of the guys living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, so not exactly next door.
Everything which was wrong with the last album is right with this one. When they bring in atmosphere with beautiful piano and cello as on “Sanguine Mask” then they do so incredibly well, and songs like these are in stark contrast to when they become full-blown black metal as in “A Crystal Lattice”. What amazed me with this album is not only the way it is so superior to the previous one, but the amount of depth in their performance. Given what I thought of the last one I never imagined this was even possible, yet here we are with a black metal album which ticks all the boxes. Dramatic, atmospheric, and vital, this is incredibly solid and intense. On previous albums, Mikula expressed himself mostly with glossolalia or speaking in tongues, which allowed him to hide due to his lack of self-confidence, yet here we have him singing in a definable language for the first time which is another pointer to just how much the band have grown and changed.
If, like me, you wrote this band off after their last album, then give them another chance as this is powerful black metal indeed.