Ghost Bath - Moonlover (2015) preview

A black metal purist would rather be baptized than slap Ghost Bath with the label 'black metal', in part due to fear of being strung up by his heels and tarred and feathered by droves of furious black metal traditionalists… They are also as fiercely loyal as they are obtusely ignorant when it comes to protecting the genres aphotic purity. This is fine by me.

With that being said, Ghost Bath's upcoming release 'Moonlover' seems to nestle in more accurately with the Black Gaze movement, a term that gets some crowds all rankled and riled up.

I have listened to the song Golden Number in full as I am posting this, being the first song I have heard of Ghost Bath as I wasn't familiar with their 2014 release Funeral. I was neither wooed nor disappointed, but I must admit that riff at 01:47 into the song nullified the evil atmosphere that was building up, for minutes after that riff the guitars and drumming are brazenly poppy in sound, sonically akin to a more post-punk ethos, which I guess is par for the course.

In lieu of total transparency, I'd rather just listen to Lunar Aurora, whom were untouchable when it came to making ambient driven black metal with a potent ability to construct genuinely eerie songs that never strayed too far from its roots. I don't mean to compare Lunar Aurora with Ghost Bath as I don't think Ghost Bath is really trying to mimic them, but those heavily drowned out vocal shrieks on 'Moonlover' really make me just want to listen to Lunar Aurora's 'Andacht' instead.

* Enough of what I think, how egocentric of me, I am more curious as to what you guys think of 'Moonlover'? Do we like it? Do we hate it? Do we not really give a shit?

One thing cannot be argued; That album cover is incredibly bleak and I give full points for that. At least they got a leg up on those stubborn black metal dudes with no visual art sense at all. Maybe.

Ghost Bath (bandcamp)

Wöes // Wölvefröst Split (2014)

Hmm shit… How do I start one of these things again? This split is heavy, you should listen to it.
Nah, that won't do.

Yeah dudes, I know, it's been a really long time since I've updated anything at all, and frankly my fingertip muscles are rusty, which is a major bummer because my inbox has never been more full of new and exciting shit to post up on here for your sorry ass eyes. I wish I had a really sweet excuse as to why I have been so removed from SHOM, like I was kidnapped by a pack of wolves, dragged into the Taiga forest to learn and hunt with the wolf-pack and howl at the moon all while the opening riff to Wolfchant's "A Pagan Storm" appropriately played in the background, but no man the boring truth is due to a broken "e" on my keyboard. I wouldn't lie to you, the "e" letter key on my keyboard stopped working and I just couldn't be asked to fix it right away. Do you know how many letters have the fucking letter "e" in them? Basically every goddamn shit sucking letter in the English language!

Anyway, I have a lot of catching up to do, and I will do just that with this mega bestial, dragged through the shitter, crusty black metal split from Wöes & Wölvefröst. Both bands bring a blistering paced handful of songs to the split. all of them raw, cloaked in noise, and unrelenting, encompassing a simplified punk-like aesthetic to the structure, but still very much black metal with the crust turned way up.

haha check out that opening riff to the Wöes song "Tyrant King", sloppier than a baby eating mashed potatoes, but it is great, because we are stone cold rebels. My favorite track on the split is by Wöes and it is called "Martyr With A Serpents Tongue".  Here is that track;

Full album streaming over at Cvlt Nation!
Preorder it here at Orc Tusk!