The Wraith’s debut Gloom Ballet (Southern Lord) was one the surprises of 2019 and a favourite with many a listener and reviewer who happened upon it. But the album had the bad luck of being released at the beginning of December when most of the relevant publications already have put together their best-albums-of-the-year lists. Or maybe it was not bad luck, but an instance of bad planning. In any case, if Gloom Ballet had been released earlier in the year, I’m sure it would have featured on many such lists. It would probably have had a greater impact and reached a broader audience. However, with things being as they were, The Wraith, despite an exceptional debut, remained mostly a local phenomenon, one of the better-known bands of the Los Angeles deathrock scene.

For me, Gloom Ballet was the perfect blend of goth and punk, something I hadn’t heard in a very long time. It combined kick-ass drumming with atmosphere and melody. The hoarse voice and slightly slurry pronunciation of singer and lyricist Davey Bales provided punk credibility. A published poet, he had an exceptional way with words. His lyrics were gloomy and musing, conjuring up scenes from a dark, in-between world, an existence on the brink. In addition, details, appearing unimportant at first, had a great effect on the overall character of the album. An acoustic interlude, placed mid-album, featuring piano and violine, gave Gloom Ballet just the right touch of goth melancholia. A recording of a séance added a bit of otherworldliness, and female backing vocals provided further width and prevented any monotony from arising. In short, Gloom Ballet was a great debut album. Outstanding.

Half a decade and one pandemic later, the world is a different place. Singer and band co-founder Davey Bales tragically passed away at the end of January 2022. From what I have read online, he had left the band prior to his death due to insurmountable differences. In a R.I.P post dated February 7, 2022, Southern Lord, the band’s label, said that the band would continue.

And indeed, in 2023 the band announced a new album, featuring a new vocalist. Southern Lord was not mentioned and appeared no longer involved. The news was exciting, but the question was if the rest of the band and the new vocalist would be able to replicate the success and the sound of the debut album? This would be no easy feat, because Gloom Ballet had stood the test of time and sounded still relevant, maybe even more so now than when it was released. That’s because goth rock is having a revival, and when the album was released, this revival was only in its beginnings.

With enthusiasm I sat down to check out the new, pre-released track Overthrow last year and its corresponding video, directed by and featuring the new singer, only to be somewhat disappointed. The new vocalist Harley Mace had a completely different style of singing than Davey Bales. There was more metal than punk in his vocal performance and in his stage presence. Nothing bad, naturally, in and of itself, but it was not what I had expected, and, what was more important, it gave the band a completely different character. The punk part had been scaled down significantly. And I had liked the punk part a lot. With a little less excitement and a bit more scepticism I awaited the release of the band’s second album, Ghost March.

After having given the new album many run-throughs, I can say that my scepticism towards Ghost March has not waned, but grown. Because of Mace’s vocals performance, the album sounds more like a mixture of old school heavy metal and goth rock than goth and punk. There is a bit of The Sisters of Mercy to be heard, a bit of the Misfits, and there is certainly a good portion of Glenn Danzig in the vocal performance. But more than any one of those bands or artists Ghost March resembles Idle Hands’ debut Mana (2019, Eisenwald), yet it does not possess its drive, its cohesiveness, its energy, its character.

What Ghost March does feature is 10 solid, melodic goth rock songs. They are good, but nowhere near the quality of Gloom Ballet and a bit monotonous after several listens. The interesting details, described above, that gave the band’s debut its special appeal, are absent, and the lyrics appear somewhat formulated and studded with slogans heard many times before.

I have not yet read any other reviews for the album and it might well be that fellow scribes or other fans will disagree with my comments.  I can only say that, although being initially predisposed to like it, I couldn’t warm to it at all. We’ll see what others will say. This is what I give:

(7/10 Slavica)

https://www.facebook.com/TheWraithPunk

https://thewraithpunk.bandcamp.com/album/ghost-march