Self-Released - 2014
7/10
North Dakota's Ghost Bath is one of the least-likely but weirdly earliest discoveries in my extreme metal journey, as they hit my radar far before I had a true appreciation for these styles, let alone black metal itself. Thus, looking back to 2014 when they were an entire enigma to me, against my current understanding of musical nuances, and in an age where this band broke some serious ground, a seriously interesting retrospective look is inevitable. Being an obvious standout in the band's now five-album catalogue, it turns out that Funeral is the most fun one to revisit, despite all of its weaknesses and... niches.
By now it's no secret that Ghost Bath aren't simply black metal due to unforgiving breakneck backdrops, vicious vocal attacks, nor Satanic might in the form of meaner thrash templates. Rather, the debut works that label by softening the tones in some areas while heightening them in others. More often than not, your tremolos, a black metal staple, are presented under an airier sheen that go for the effect of unsettling without extreme. Reverberations play a large part, but the minor-toned rhythms are what really cast a light feeling of loneliness in an unfamiliar plane rather than in a cold dark forest, especially with those dissonant soft licks in the beginning of "Burial."
Though this is barely what would cause something to pass for metal alone, it's likely the regular presence of extreme drum blasts that contrast this to allow it to fall into this category. Such a delivery is equally what lands it in that "post / gaze / depressive" territory, black metal's corniest trend that broke in the past decade (which is really saying something). And of course, the elephant in the room is the moaning howl vocals that, due to a flat production, jump out far more than one is often ready for. While I find this to be really unflattering, the plus side is that the same effect is applied to the softer, alternative rock-oriented sadboi leads that single handedly save Funeral from being a dumpster fire.
And trust me when I say, this is the best reason to revisit the band's first record. A proper mood is absolutely needed, you'll want a high tolerance for horrendous vocals, and the ability to compartmentalize the different layers certainly can't hurt. But amidst this raw mess, there are some absolute fucking bangers that carry us away. Mentioning "Burial" again, it casts imagery of an actual funeral, and one in the environment that the Ophelia painting on the album art depicts. It has some of the meanest riffs on the whole album (which are few and far), as well as an eerie array of shrieks, calm leads, and epic feelings that would translate better on future efforts.
Use this as a template for combing the swamp for the other strong statements. Because of the vocals, instrumentals are a tactful move, and Funeral boasts four of them. "Birth" miraculously paints a life-giving emotion of redemption, being the sole happier feeling on the whole record, before "Forever" brings things back to reality to send us off. (Ever listen to "All For You" by Sister Hazel? The main lick on "Birth" almost mirrors its intro). "Procession" might be our most obvious example of soft-tremolos leading into a fierce blackened attack, while its predecessor "Silence" is a lone guitar number that fills the gap with another feeling of abandonment. The intro riff to "Calling" and the general progression of opener "Torment" are as full-on catchy as they are unsettling, working alt-rock rhythms with a grainy overcast. Meanwhile, "Sorrow" absolutely nails dirge-like facets with rain backing a piano; the chanting at the end of that one still makes my gut churn. Really, there are so many strong moments worth sifting the disc to find, though more than an hour of this was absolutely not necessary (especially the one minute of literally nothing that is "Afterlife").
Indeed, we have before us one of the most conflicting albums in terms of how I feel in my entire collection, and as smoothly as Ghost Bath's career may evolve, objectively better isn't always more interesting. In the right mood, this is an extremely nuanced art piece that casts an abstract narrative capable of making David Lynch blush (R.I.P.). In any other mood, it's a tough swallow, and I think the general makeup is very shoddy; it just got quite lucky when some of what was hurled at the wall actually stuck. Teenage me thought this was laughable in the way current me thinks Silencer is, though in retrospect they're almost nothing alike. I recall finding its "creepy" elements "creepier" when I thought Ghost Bath was from China, but that was likely some small-town white-boy casual racism at play (especially considering how much I've grow to adore China). If you like black metal, shoegaze, alternative rock, or any odd structured combo of those things, I say it's worth at least hearing to quell curiosities.
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