Album Review : Ghost Bath - Self Loather (2021)
DSBM (or Depressive Suicidal Black Metal) is the definition of an acquired taste. Popularized by the likes of Shining, Lifelover, Leviathan and Xasthur, it would be black metal’s emo little cousin if being emo consisted in actually popping pills and self-harming instead of only talking about it. Although it is mostly a musical aesthetic, it is played by a certain type of lonely, mysterious, attention shunning performers. Nuclear Blast-signed band Ghost Bath is an anomaly in the scene.
To be fair, their new album Self Loather isn’t quite just DSBM. It’s not quite just black metal either. It is… it’s own thing.
Ghost Bath have always been more melodic than your average DSBM band. Sometimes to a fault, but on Self Loather, they seem to have found a balance between their melodic side, the shoegaze influence that pervades DSBM and their own creative paradigm. What does that mean exactly? It means that they found a sound that a) isnt’t goofy and b) it entirely their own. I would say Self Loather is somewhat of a creative breakout for them. It isn’t perfect, but it’s a memorable enough calling card. It demands attention.
The first interesting oddity that came to mind while listening to Self Loather is In Flames. Not late, weirdo rock In Flames. The old school The Jester Race and Whoracle era of melodic death metal. Ghost Bath isn’t ripping them off or anything, but on heavier songs like Convince Me to Bleed & A Crystal Lattice, they break from the conventional black metal formula of tremolo picking the shit out of every riff and hit another register. It’s different, original and it layers otherwise massive song in an interesting way.
There is a shitload of tremolo picking on Self Loather, though. It’s hard to say that it crossed the line from this-is-the-creative-canvas-of-our-record to we-don’t-know-how-else-to-play-black-metal, but it’s there, it’s obsessive and it appears on almost every song like swirling guitars on in shoegaze. It is particularly insistent on some of the album’s weaker songs like Shrines of Bone and Sinew and Vein, where it is almost like another vocalist. Some people love it, I think it is somewhat of a black metal sonic stereotype.
Because Ghost Bath can do better and they prove it many times on Self Loather. A song like Hide From the Sun for example is an instant DSBM classic. It’s slow, atmospheric and Lifelover-inspired without falling into ripoff. Frontman Dennis Mikula displays his crazy wide vocal range on this track, from the traditional DSBM wounded animal shriek to all out death metal growl. They production sometimes tragically buries him in reverb, but it’s a genre thing to a certain extent. He could use more space, though.
Lyrically, Self Loather is surprisingly consistent. Without being a concept album, the theme of a man having a conversation with his inner demons (the aforementioned self-loather) keeps coming back from song to song, except perhaps on Shrines of Bones and the instrumental I Hope Death Finds Me Well, which feels as personal as the other songs on the record. It’s not about self loathing, but it feels like a self loather playing piano, if that makes sense. It’s a strong bridge into the last third of the album.
There you have it. Self Loather is a psychological, emotional and musical journey into the mind of a person who hates herself. It is explored sonically through almost seamless transitions from black metal to melodic death metal to shoegaze to gothic rock that create a musical tapestry that you haven’t quite experienced before. Self Loather feels sometimes shackled by its proclaimed genre, but it only bodes well for the future of Ghost Bath. It is a solid record and they can do even better.
