As I sit in this sunny beer garden, listening to black metal, I can’t help but feel the incongruity. This is unquestionably not the peak time of year to be releasing a record of this ilk, but I’m going to do my best to put that to one side. Not least of all because I don’t actually have much in the way of preconceived notions about Ghost Bath, despite being aware of them for some time. So I want to be as close to completely objective as I can. And I was somewhat surprised when I listened to this record, I’ll admit. In some instances for better, though not without exception.

My understanding, such as it was, was that Ghost Bath were basically a heavily emotive post-black metal outfit. And that’s not too wide of the mark, to be fair, but it doesn’t conjure up an accurate representation of this record, I don’t think. I was expecting an hour or more of material, likely spread over 5-7 tracks, with a lot of glacial building and ponderous meanderings. And there is some of that, but not in the way I was expecting. For a kick-off, the album is 9 songs and 35 minutes long. Now that’s short for a black metal record of any kind. But this also gives an average song length of just over 3 minutes. That’s downright weird for a black metal album. But the weirdness doesn’t stop there. It ramps up, if anything. There are clean arpeggios all over the shop, triumphant guitar solos, vocals that are closer to death metal gutturals than the traditional black metal shriek, and keyboard parts that honestly baffle me as an instrument choice. And don’t get me started out the track names. From ‘Well, I Tried Drowning’, to ‘Thinly Sliced Heart Muscle’ (which is a lush, instrumental guitar piece with synthesised orchestral parts, by the way…) by way of ‘Vodka Butterfly’ and the rather blunt ‘Throat Cancer’ there seems to be very little in the way of thematic consistency. It’s ALL weird.

But here’s the (possibly a bit obvious) reveal: it’s really fucking good. Yes, it does tend to feel a bit like a patchwork quilt of songs, and yes, the transitions can feel quite jarring, but in the main this album is incredibly easy to consume. When Ghost Bath do loop back to being a black metal band, they are clearly able to do it in a number of different styles, as well. ‘Dandelion Tea’ feels like Vreid stomper but with some unusual vocal flourishes and occasionally sensational drumming. The aforementioned ‘Vodka Butterfly’ introduces programmed beats (which resolve into a drum ‘n’ bass pattern) and EDM-style pulsing synths in the last minute of the song for some reason, but it kinda works? Then straight into ‘Stamen and Pistil’ which is an out-and-pout black metal rager for the first 3 minutes and then switches entirely into synth and washy, reverb-laden guitars with something approaching spoken word accompanying it. It sounds like an 80’s film score, where the main protagonist, in times of trouble, stares out to sea, leaning on the end of a pier. And that then is followed by ‘Needles’ which is a distorted, melancholic piano instrumental over the sound of running water. See? Weird.

So I guess it depends on what you’re looking for, ultimately. If you want a conventional black metal record, then this ain’t it. If you’re looking for something that has some of the cornerstones of black metal but is actually quite significantly removed from the more ‘cvlt’ version of it, and are open to cross-genre dalliances, then there’s a lot here to enjoy. It doesn’t all land perfectly, but the ambition and execution are definitely things to be applauded more frequently than lamented. This is a curious record, no doubt. But one that I suspect I’ll be coming back to quite frequently, whether in its entirety or dipping in and out. Which is a style of listening that polarises. Much as I suspect this album might.