Ghost Bath (鬼浴) is a peculiar band that's emerged in the metal scene recently. Much of their aesthetics remind me of the similarly named “Ghost,” who went from being nobodies to one of the big names when it comes to Satan worship, and after hearing Ghost Bath's Moonlover I predict a similar rise to fame.
Like Ghost, the band members are known only as “Nameless” and no one, not even the front man has revealed themselves publicly, creating further mystery about their sudden notability in the forefront of avant-garde metal. The band is even similarly named to Ghost. They originally purported to be from Chongqing, China, a claim that's recently fallen through as they revealed in an interview that they are based in Nebraska, however their Chinese origins are still up for debate. All of this is of course secondary to what's actually important, namely the music.
Moonlover is what some people are calling “the new Sunbather,” referring to Deafheaven's seminal album that made “post-black metal” a term the average metalhead actually recognized. While Moonlover is similar in a lot of ways to Sunbather, it's certainly not the same album, and by no means a rip-off, but interestingly some of the track names seem suspiciously similar to track names on Sunbather (i.e. “Happyhouse” and “Dream House,” “Beneath The Shade Tree” and “The Pecan Tree” etc).
The front man's tortured wailings really do sound like the, dare I say, spooky emissions of a ghostly specter longing to rest in peace. After an ominous intro track, the first real song (and probably the most memorable number on the album), “Golden Number,” starts right off with blast beat drumming, high tremolo picking and again, vocals that are best described as wailing rather than screaming. The flow eventually breaks away to allow a melody that climaxes in an uplifting chorus chant that I find greatly emotional.
The second track, “Happyhouse,” has the same heavy-strumming foundation but again a melody comes through that the front man's tortured sobbing can just barely be heard over; he then finishes and it's back to the head-banging grind all over again, but as these tracks approach their end you can't help but feel that some force has found its peace through the major chord climaxes and soft finger picking.
“Beneath the Shade Tree” starts off where the previous track ended, continuing a celestial, flanged finger picking session that floats the listener upward as they anticipate the next round of blast beats and wailing, which doesn't resume until the following tracks “The Silver Flower Pt. 1 and Pt. 2” (which include more choral singing that's excellently worked into the guitars, as well as the only vocals on the album that can be accurately described as “screaming”).
The album finishes with “Death and the Maiden,” which is probably the most “metal” song on the album, a brutal arrangement of guitar assault that really showcases the band's power when they want to go hard. All members give it their all on this finale track which ends in some seriously spooky whistling.
Overall the album presents a bleak atmosphere that is both depressing and at the same time uplifting. There's plenty of head bang material on this album, while at the same time satisfying the ‘taste for space.' Wherever the people in Ghost Bath are from, they've shown that post-black metal is not a niche or stale genre; they've shown that it still has avenues to follow. As for whether Moonlover is “the new Sunbather,” I think not, because this album is even better, and my AOTY for 2015 so far (although Sigh has yet to release their newest album, Graveward).
The album officially dropped March 17th, but you can listen to the whole thing on their bandcamp: http://ghostbath.bandcamp.com
