Ghost Bath
Support: Frosthelm, Numenorean
Date: Saturday September 10th, 2016
Venue: the Garrison in Toronto, Ontario

I blew my shoulder to bits wrestling with my kids about fifteen minutes before I was going to leave for this show. I was right on the cusp of not going but I figured going out would be better for my shoulder than sitting on the couch. I got to the venue in time to catch the last two minutes of Numenorean. I don’t even remember a bit about them other than they were a metal band.

I know the name Frosthelm from somewhere, I just don’t know where right now. But they were actually REALLY good. They’re another post-black metal band but they seemed colder to me. Probably because they have the word “frost” in their name. I really liked their post sections a lot but I liked their abrasive parts too. It was pretty cool that they had four guys doing vocals at different points. It upped the intensity of their performance. When the hit high gear they were fucking LOUD and the vocals were really low in the mix. That would be a turn-off with some acts but I found it worked better with them. I kinda enjoyed giving my ears a workout to hear them. I really liked this band. They never said a word to the crowd so I didn’t get any song titles but they played for around forty minutes.

I’m still not sure what to think of Ghost Bath. Are they a Deafheaven-clone? Are they a Deafheaven-parody? It think it’s more “clone” but damn, the guys vocals are literally just screaming. Thing was; I turned on their album after a few spins but this performance turned me back. I thought they were really good. They started out slow but Death and the Maiden and Golden Number back-to-back may be one of the better live song performances I’ve seen all year. When they kicked it into high gear during those songs it was…it was fucking awesome. I really like the triple guitar attack and I really liked buddy’s vocals. I was really surprised how much I enjoyed their performance. They barely played forty-five minutes and I can really appreciate that too.

Ghost Bath
1. The Silver Flower, Pt. 2
2. Happyhouse
3. Ascension
4. Death and the Maiden
5. Golden Number
6. Burial

I’m really surprised that I’m really happy I went to this show. Both the bands I caught were essentially Deafheaven clones but I don’t care. I think I actually may have liked Frosthelm more, but the Death and the Maiden and Golden Number was a fucking intense ten minutes that may have topped them.

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Follow up:

When I looked back on 2016 at the end of the year I actually decided that this was the best show I saw that year. It was just that great a night.

Ghost Bath released another album at the beginning of 2017 and it further tore me on the band. It had some good moments and some boring moments. Overall it was just way too long.

I've been looking for Frosthelm's album ever since this show but it's impossible to find. Well, it probably isn't; I just haven't looked very hard. I really wish I'd have bought it at this show.