Northern Silence Productions - 2021
7/10
Seeing the longest gap between releases since the band's inception, Ghost Bath came back to round out the trilogy of albums with their fourth overall full-length in 2021. Staying just as on the nose as ever with its title, Self Loather dials back some of the overdone intricacies that absolutely butchered its predecessor, giving us a more refined record. Stylistically, this is the most the band has evolved since beginning the trilogy after the shaky and experimental debut. It just comes down to whether or not it lands better than the last evolution, which did not.
Quite quickly, it's evident that Ghost Bath have embraced the traces of metal that everything prior had to a far greater degree. We aren't void of the cleaner licks and melodies that wound up being the band's best strength, but all across the board we get far more metal-oriented rhythms, devious drum kicks, and vocals far more aligned with the traditional blackened shriek in favor of the now less-prominent cry-wails. Moreover, the average song length has decreased tremendously, forcing the ambient atmosphere to take a back seat as repetition no longer fits within the mold. The result is that we get compact tracks that are structured in a slightly more accessible way, even if the style itself is nasty (using both terms somewhat liberally).
Where I still have gripes is in the sheer lack of irony and otherwise unremarkable aspects of Self Loather. They've sidestepped anything that I would call bad this time around, but even the more traditional structures give very few moments that stand out. Opener "Convince Me To Bleed" has strength in its leads, and the menacing tone is nice, but once I was past that surprising element, it felt like goth-laced default Norwegian black metal. "A Crystal Lattice" is an objectively perfect song in this style, ripping through with fury I've never seen from Ghost Bath before, and I'll even toss some points to its cooler center leads with a noisy background, I just struggle to find too many other moments that swing this hard. Funny enough, the longest track "Sanguine Mask" may be the most unique tune on the disc, relying on deep chugs and death metal gutturals, something that makes an appearance from time to time, while also tapping into more familiar territory atmosphere-wise.
The matured foundation that didn't save the former record at all is thankfully carried over, which was definitely a solid touch. But for all of these positives, there's a counterpart. I really can't take things like the crying in "Hide From The Sun," random coughing and throaty groans on tons of these songs, or the unironic silliness of a title like "I Hope Death Finds Me Well" seriously at all. I get it; the "depressive" aspect of this style is not lost on me, and I could handle bits of this in the earlier stage, but the way things have evolved makes it sound like mature men in their thirties co-writing music with teenagers. I love where Self Loather took things, and the foundation on this is great, I just see little reason to return to it.
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