GHOST BATH

As every good goth knows, much joy can be derived from miserable music. GHOST BATH have never truly conformed to any particular subgenre tag, but there have certainly been a few consistent elements in the North Dakota crew's sound, from a woozy, post-black metal sheen that was always too dark to be shoegaze, to the barbaric howls that spew from frontman Nameless's (Dennis Mikula) embittered throat. If this is so-called depressive black metal, it must be the deluxe, three-dimensional version, because "Rose Thorn Necklace" is an often overwhelmingly uplifting experience, with sonic depths and atmospheric peaks galore. The follow-up to 2021's avowedly evil-sounding "Self Loather" is obviously not a twinkly eyed disco-rock bonanza, but there is a fullness and finesse to these songs that is more heart-warming than horrifying.

After the portentous rush of overture "Grotesque Display", the title track showcases this new, more refined incarnation of this shadowy quintet. GHOST BATH have always been strong on melody, but "Rose Thorn Necklace" powers ahead with surging chords that drip with emotion and drama. The vocals are a desperate cry from the void, the relentlessness storm of guitars is intoxicating, and lush, harmonized interludes offer delicate and soothing respite. Whereas on previous albums GHOST BATH spent more time than seemed necessary establishing themselves as a face-ripping black metal band, "Rose Thorn Necklace" only cranks up the brutality when the songs demand it. As a result, "Well, I Tried Drowning" is simply a great metal song, albeit one with haunting ghost synths, a frisson of psychedelic static, and elegant, instrumental oases of calm.

Despite the density of all those layers, the production is airy and colorful; the perfect foil for GHOST BATH's morbid myopia. "Thinly Sliced Heart Muscles" defies its unsavory title by being an almost unbearably pretty instrumental, with ululating synths giving Mikula's glum guitar a ghoulish embrace; "Dandelion Tea" is a high-resolution maelstrom of darkness, despair and rugged black metal riffing, with equal amounts of shimmering beauty and sinister clangor; and the deliciously subversive "Vodka Butterfly" throws a spanner into the works, weaves white-knuckle, blackened scree and starry-eyed gothic pomp together and then whips the rug of expectation away, ghostly breakbeats echoing into the abyss. .

There is still a strong connection between this new music and the scene-stealing, subgenre-defining "Moonlover" from a decade ago. The difference is that GHOST BATH are painting more vivid pictures these days. The ferocious but cinematic "Stamen and Pistil" dissolves into another instrumental, the eerie, piano-led "Needles", which, in turn, mutates into a grand finale. Worthy of the name, album closer, "Throat Cancer", defies its brutish title, unfolding in morbid slow motion, and deftly morphing from fragile and crestfallen to thunderous and triumphant, each insidious melody chipping stoically away at any lingering sense of hope. Again, as grimly depressing as GHOST BATH's music is expected to be, these are songs powered as much by awe and wonder as they are by suicidal proclivities. Easily the most cohesive record of the band's career, "Rose Thorn Necklace" is deeply strange and quietly impressive. Never cheer up.