Ghost Bath - Moonlover (2015) [320] V01dV

Depressive black metal from USA, latest full-length album released in 2015.





Although the band originally claimed that they were from Chonqing, China, it has been revealed in a 2015 interview with Noisey that they're actually based out of Minot, North Dakota.

The band's Chinese name is "鬼浴".

Ghost Bath refers to the act of committing suicide by submerging in a body of water.

"Vocals are reminiscent of Nattram's painfully high pitches, and Ghost Bath's occasional use of clean sections bring out a dynamic tension in their music. When the guitars go soaring, it's like Dissection never left. Given that black metal with a “pretty” or “melodic” bent can make waves" - Pitchfork

"Funeral it’s beautifully disturbing...On top of that some of the angriest most vivid post-black metal that has graced my ears. It’s some strikingly twisted stuff and packs a hell of a wallop." - LiveBeijingMusic

"The philosophical horizon seems pretty clear already flowing with his eyes, the pain stimulates a tormented existence reflection, leading us to ask whether and in what manner it is possible something after death. The soul is confused between moments of stillness and sudden moments of heartbreaking clarity." - Aristocrazia Webzine

"Mixing heavy melodicism, necro screaming and an imperial wall of noise, Ghost Bath produces a very entertaining and impressive record, one that doesn’t compromise their own identity and uses wisely BM only as a base for their amazing musical approach, without a doubt great musician with open minds that will improve their rich sounding music in more years to come." - YouAreAGhost.blogspot

"Did you know that Ghost Bath recently released their full-length debut? Did you also know that said album is amazing? It totally is. The drums are powerful, diverse and complex. The riffs sound dark but also majestic..." - AutisticMetalhead






2015 Moonlover


Tracklist:

1.) The Sleeping Fields (01:26)
2.) Golden Number (09:08)
3.) Happyhouse (08:44)
4.) Beneath the Shade Tree (04:47)
5.) The Silver Flower pt. 1 (04:03)
6.) The Silver Flower pt. 2 (07:33)
7.) Death and the Maiden (06:25)

Label: Northern Silence Productions


Niche sub-genres typically leave enough room for just one or two critically acclaimed acts to reach the broader music world. The spotlight shines so brightly on those acts that all the others have to nip at their heels — whether actively or just in public perception. In depressive black metal, the band getting all the shine is Deafheaven. With the sterling, thundering Moonlover, Ghost Bath should absorb some of that international attention — but rather than chase an arbitrary genre mutation or confrontational stance to stand out, Ghost Bath expose a pained and painful honesty.

That’s not to say that the band has been entirely straightforward in their approach: Though they initially claimed to be based in China, they recently revealed their true North Dakota origins. That obfuscation informs their music as well, their blackgaze aesthetic layering shoegaze’s haze over the howling vocals and explosive power of black metal. Case in point: The hammering “Golden Number”, in which tom rolls and head-banging bass give way to Explosions in the Sky guitars and piano that sounds like it’s being played in an empty room.

Considering the band’s name refers to suicide by drowning, the album opens appropriately with watery sounds before developing into “The Sleeping Fields”, composed of a fragile, waltzing guitar figure and ominous bass. The vocals to “Happyhouse” also show a softer side, more pained than aggressive in the screams, breath curling away from the sharp edges as if the source of the sounds could no longer support them. “Beneath the Shade Tree” follows, peeling away any and all metal aggression, a post-rock dream to bridge the album’s early crescendo and its second half.

That attention to structure and detail buoys Moonlover; the marshy field recording of crickets and frogs abets the sinking feeling of more atmospheric guitar figures on “The Silver Flower Pt. 1″, only to have “Pt. 2″ rise up, covered in muck and ready to burn into the night sky. Finale “Death and the Maiden” reaches the outer atmosphere, blast-beats and fiery guitar swarming until an echoey, whistled outro wisps like smoke from the explosion. Rather than approach blackgaze with bared teeth and sharpened knives, Ghost Bath lets you hear the thudding beat of its heart until it can’t hold up anymore.

Essential Tracks: “Golden Number”, “The Silver Flower Pt. 2″, and “Death and the Maiden”.