Or does it, I inquire? “Vodka Butterfly,” which is later in the album, has an almost, dare I say, “danceable” beat. It doesn’t matter anyway. I’m that dude with the top down on my car, metal blasting, and doing shimmies and shoulder shakes anyway. Check out those keys, which are far more prevalent than anything the band has done previously. I’m not sure if that’s a guitar in the background, but it sounds quite a bit like a mandolin. It’s one of the most interesting tracks because it offers a sort of dance break slightly over two minutes in.

“We’re Ghost Bath and we write songs about killing ourselves. This next song is about killing myself!”

“Well, I tried Drowning” fits that mantra as something I want to discuss, as well as something I haven’t tried. I’ve always heard you shouldn’t knock it until you try it. Okay, put it on the list. The track itself reminds me of Forgotten Tomb, who were possibly the first DSBM band I heard. Before two minutes, that rumble with the deep vocals grabs my attention. The screechy DSBM vocals almost blend into the background with the other instruments, but the bright guitars somehow make you forget the lyrics, including “Cut my throat.”

The track immediately following, “Thinly Sliced Muscle,” reminds me I haven’t eaten much today, and I’m hungry. It’s essentially a pretty interlude, though, leading well into “Dandelion Tea.” Those gorgeous, bright guitars continue, but you know something’s coming. The bright guitars stay on top of a chug and some cavernous background vocals. When the riff starts, along with the vocals, I am reminded of The Lion’s Daughter, but that doesn’t last as the band decides to blast away any of those comparisons (by using blast beats).

This album is one of those steps a band takes in a different direction, but not enough to dissatisfy its current fan base. I’ve been a fan of these guys since Moonlover because I haven’t listened to Funeral, and that’s not changing anytime soon. This is their most immediate attention-grabbing release so far, and it’s bound to garner a great deal. It’s a release on the upper end of the quality of this year’s albums so far (that I’ve heard). I would almost guarantee it ends up on a bunch of hipster lists, including mine. It’s me. I’m the hipster.

On the opener, “Convince Me to Bleed,” all I said to them was; “You guys should bleed.” They did and I am disappointed with their lack of resistance to peer pressure. It doesn’t take long to notice the difference between this and previous offerings. From the beginning, it’s a lot more of a post rock vibe, but the pervasive tremolo picking and blast beats make it clear this is still black metal. This by no means any unexpected detour, but it certainly feels more immediate.

Choral vocals open the next track, “Hide From the Sun,” which is something my pasty whiteness will take little persuasion to prove to you I do well. There’s a somewhat clean picked guitar with screams of torment before the black metal kicks in. The vocals here sound more feral than on the first track and are fairly distinguishable once again. They’re also a bit deeper. Also, what’s this? A Chorus? Nice.

While a lot of the tracks do tend to run together here, that’s to be expected when a band has found and sits comfortably in their own sound. That’s not a positive or negative. Just a fact.

One of the heavier moments on the album comes on track 4, which is called “Sanguine Mask.” While, yes it fits squarely into what was mentioned just above, the down picked riff, when listening to their first time may give you that “stank face.” If you listen to metal at all (and I assume you do), you know what I mean. Just imagine the Jens Kidman meme. Except maybe less cartoonish.

Moving along through the tracklist, “I Hope Death Finds Me Well,” is just an interlude, for lack of a better term. It’s all piano, but it leads well into “For It Is a Veil.” The vocals in parts have more of a death metal roar, but there’s still those DSBM cries in the background. Those vocals, like their previous work, are buried in the mix. The lead work near the end has a bit of a moody, almost Mastodon vibe.

The very last track on the album, which is also the shortest, “Flickering Wicks of Black,” is a fitting way to end. It’s as straightforward an assault as you’ll find on the album, with some solid lead guitar passages and a subdued segue to the end of the album.

At barely under 50 minutes, this is a much shorter affair than their previous album, and all the better for it. Previous offerings had the tendency to be enjoyable but drag on a little. The same qualm is not present here. With that being said, if you’re not at all into Ghost Bath, this is not going to change your mind in the slightest. However, as opposed to it being a complete re-imagining of their sound, think of it as them getting a bit of a tune up. They play to what they do well and do it better than ever before. This might be their finest hour. So far, I my view, it is.

Ghost Bath seem to be as divisive as Deafheaven,  So Hideous and Liturgy when it comes to their shoegazy/post black label vs  ‘Kult’ black metal fans and the supposed ‘true’ scene, though somehow Alcest gets a pass. But I digress, I rather enjoyed Moonlover, as it made my 2015 year end list, and was looking forward to this album immensely, though with a sense of trepidation, as the jump to Nuclear Blast screamed a more commercial approach.

For a band labelled as ‘depressive’, Starmourner sure is gorgeous, though it’s said there is a beauty in sadness. And I’d like to officially announce my new trademarked genre…….(drum roll) stargaze. At times, the shimmery melodies contained on the album are utterly knee wilting in their crisp, melodic, delicate beauty.  And while there is a certain undercurrent of despondency, there is very little that’s depressive or bleak. The album rather has  a heavenly, astral and star-crossed theme and aura that’s a far cry from depressing.

Dare I say, there’s even many ‘happy’, jangly moments on the album that will make many a spiked wrist band types cry afoul. I’d even go so far as to day the likes of “Seraphic”, “Ambrosial” (even with its meandering last third), “Ethereal” and “Luminescence” are in fact, wondrously uplifting. Sumptuously and unashamedly so. The grasp of these ‘happy/sad’ melodies are arguably unmatched except by maybe Vallendusk, Woods of Desolation and Deafheaven’s Sunbather.  There are many such moments on Starmourner that left me speechless, such as personal favorite, the feverishly melodic “Thrones” (a contender for my favorite song of the year, the transition at 4;21 is black metal perfection, and the piano added in the song’s penultimate stanza gives me goose bumps), down right glorious, rousing march of “Celestial” and blistering shimmer of “Elysian”.

Those that disliked Mikula’s seemingly wordless, hawkish  shrieks will be disappointed as they return here and are as high pitched as before and seem to be to black metal what John tardy’s early vocals were to death metal. Still, they add a pained sense of ghostly sorrow and angst the the proceedings, which as I stated earlier, are much lighter and uplifting that the post/depressive black metal tag would have you believe. Production wise, there seems to bit a little more oomph in the rhythm section, so the shrillness of everything else is balanced out nicely.

On the relatively small downside, Starmourner is a looooooong album, over 70 minutes, and even as wondrous as it often is, the length and the instrumental parts (“Astral”, “Angelic”, “Principalities”, closer “Ode”) could have  been trimmed down, to let the album’s many highlights be more of a focus. In fact, the album probably could have ended with “Elysian” and been just as effective. Also, “Cherubim” and start of instrumental “Principalities” were a bit too alt/post rock-y for my taste, though the latter does finish with a nice little jangly canter.

Regardless, Starmourner will more than likely end up on my year end list,  due to some of the utterly breathtaking melodies, let the haters hate.  And now, I’m really looking forward to the next album and I really hope it’s called Sunfingerer…..