Ghost

So… in some of his interviews, Gene Simmons has asked: Where are the new Beatles? The new Metallica? The new Iron Maiden? You name it.
And honestly? I’m pretty sure we do have a modern, major, classic-sounding band/project right now.
It’s the era of Ghost.*

(Yes, Tobias for sure calculates things — he blends classic rock with very melodic, even pop-tinged choruses, whatever. But everything he does, he does at a very high professional level — and with love.)
The new album feels like a love letter to ‘80s arena rock, and to the rock/metal scene as a whole.

*And I’m pretty sure that, back when Metallica released Ride the Lightning, very few people immediately realized that the new gods had arrived.
In the eye of the storm, it’s always hard to see the bigger picture.

Edit: And Tobias really does love guitar harmonization — which I’m a huge fan of myself. Meanwhile, Maiden have almost completely abandoned that approach to songwriting, which, in my opinion, is one of the worst decisions of their entire career.
 
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Azas said:
So… in some of his interviews, Gene Simmons has asked: Where are the new Beatles? The new Metallica? The new Iron Maiden? You name it.
And honestly? I’m pretty sure we do have a modern, major, classic-sounding band/project right now.
It’s the era of Ghost.*

(Yes, Tobias for sure calculates things — he blends classic rock with very melodic, even pop-tinged choruses, whatever. But everything he does, he does at a very high professional level — and with love.)
The new album feels like a love letter to ‘80s arena rock, and to the rock/metal scene as a whole.

*And I’m pretty sure that, back when Metallica released Ride the Lightning, very few people immediately realized that the new gods had arrived.
In the eye of the storm, it’s always hard to see the bigger picture.

Edit: And Tobias really does love guitar harmonization — which I’m a huge fan of myself. Meanwhile, Maiden have almost completely abandoned that approach to songwriting, which, in my opinion, is one of the worst decisions of their entire career.
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Agreed, there is often this discussion about whether Ghost is 'metal' or not. The truth is it doesn't actually matter, they are a rock band that draw from pop, heavy metal, doom and many other influences, and this works extremely well for them.

Tobias and his collaborators are fantastic songwriters, when I have played tracks like Square Hammer and Dance Macabre to friends who are not into heavier genres of music, they have enjoyed them and engaged with them on a much higher level than songs by other contemporary rock bands. No one else is doing what Ghost are doing at the moment with remotely the same level of success.

Add some great imagery and live production to the mix and it is no surprise that they are the new arena filling, festival headlining act from our side of the musical world.
 
He's giving credit, where credit's due. Cenotaph is his favorite. To me production of this album is better than on the last two Priest albums.
 
Azas said:
He's giving credit, where credit's due. Cenotaph is his favorite. To me production of this album is better than on the last two Priest albums.
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Are you mental? The production on Firepower and Invincible Shield are the best since Painkiller, thanks to Andy Sneap.
 
No, I'm limited edition. Those Priest albums are undoubtedly well-produced, but the new Ghost album feels special to me.
 
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Updated Ghost Top Ten Song list:


01. Rats
02. Marks Of The Evil One
03. Year Zero
04. Mary On A Cross
05. Dance Macabre
06. Lachryma
07. Peacefield
08. Respite On The Spitalfields
09. Monstrance Clock
10. He Is
 
Cosmiceddie said:
Updated Ghost Top Ten Song list:


01. Rats
02. Marks Of The Evil One
03. Year Zero
04. Mary On A Cross
05. Dance Macabre
06. Lachryma
07. Peacefield
08. Respite On The Spitalfields
09. Monstrance Clock
10. He Is
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Nice list! Square Hammer is what got me into Ghost
 
Cosmiceddie said:
Question: Why is the bass player in the Lachryma video a Ghoul but in the Peacefield video a Ghoulette?
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Judging from what people on Reddit are saying, the male backing vocalist and bassist are wearing the ‘nun’ outfits on the tour.

On a side note, the male backing vocalist (known as ‘Swiss‘ or by his real name Jutty Taylor) has left the tour due to personal reasons. It’s a shame as I think he has an incredible voice and harmonises with Tobias really well.
 
:)
I honestly don't care much for the early Ghost albums. For me, things really started getting good with Square Hammer, Meliora, and then the fantastic Prequelle and now the excellent Skeleta. I want Tobias to keep going in this direction. Call it pop, call it selling out — to me, this is what he does best: crafting commercially accessible, melodic rock music.

Now that I’ve relistened to the whole album, I’ve got to say — it feels incredibly uplifting. (As a foreigner, I’m mostly drawn to the melodies and music rather than the lyrics.) And I realized something... nearly the entire album rocks. It’s fast-paced or at least moves with that steady, cruising rhythm. And that’s exactly what I’ve been missing from Maiden lately. I want that energy — that sense of motion, of flying through musical landscapes. I’m honestly sick and tired of all the doom and gloom, of the worn-out formula of dragging intros and outros. Just kick some ass, for fuck’s sake — even if you’re in your 70s! (Yes, I know that’s my problem.)

But Tobias delivers on that front, at least to my ears. This album feels like a breath of fresh air.

And I totally disagree with the idea that Ghost isn’t metal or rock. They absolutely are — they’re just more accessible, and they lean into that side of things. To my ears, some Iron Maiden albums aren’t much heavier, honestly. And right now? Ghost sounds pretty damn great to me.

Edit: As for Ghost's shtick — their cartoonish satanism or jabs at Catholicism are more of a minus to me than a plus. I’m neutral on that front. What draws me in are the great melodies and top-notch production. :)
 
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Cosmiceddie said:
So the bass player is not a female then. Weird that he opted for the same mask as the Ghoulettes wear.
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Correct. I can’t remember his name off the top of my head. Maybe they are going for a gender neutral vibe with the outifts.

Fun fact. The priests and nuns in the Satanized video are the ghouls and ghoulettes unmasked.
 
Got my copy today and listened to it for the first time. Initial thoughts are the album is really consistent but in saying that there aren't massive peaks or valleys when it comes to the songs for me. Peacefield and Marks of the Evil One are the two top tracks for me right now. I think it is a high quality album. I wouldn't really say the album has the same level of highs as the previous albums but it also doesn't have the same level of lows.
 
My ranking of Skeleta:

01. Marks Of The Evil One 10/10
02. Lachryma 10/10
03. Peacefield 10/10

04. Missilia Amori 9/10
05. Excelsis 9/10

06. Satanized 8/10
07. Cenotaph 8/10
08. Guiding Lights 8/10

09. De Profundis Borealis 7.5/10

10. Umbra 5/10
 
This whole album just...whelms me. I don't know. I'm not a fan of classic AOR and glam, so Ghost continuing to play "The Greatest Hits of AOR Glam That Never Were (Now With Satan)" doesn't interest me much.

The album is fine. I'm not super inclined to return to it after 2-3 spins.
 
After I got over the first shock, I admit that the first four tracks are really good - Lachryma does feel like a retread of Cirice and Satanized's chorus (Forge squeaking "I'm satanized" in that helium voice of his) is hilariously dumb and somewhat cringy, but the songs are colourful and Guiding Lights sounds weirdly sincere. But after that the album really falls off, it's not great, not terrible. Yeah, "whelmed" is a great description. Also, it's definitely better than the previous one, that's for sure.

In fact for the first time in forever I find myself agreeing with Anthony Fantano quite a bit, which is a rarity, excepting him giving 10/10 to Kids See Ghosts and To Pimp a Butterfly, for example.


MrKnickerbocker said:
I'm not a fan of classic AOR and glam, so Ghost continuing to play "The Greatest Hits of AOR Glam That Never Were (Now With Satan)" doesn't interest me much.
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I flip flop on that, one day I think one Hysteria in existence is already too much, another that it is cool cheesy nostalgia and I like Forge being a connoisseur of the old stuff in more ways than one.

Like I said, my biggest peeve is the production, it's the "modern metal" plasticine lifeless production that really makes them in particular sound like Imagine Dragons doing a Duran Duran tribute, as I've already said.

Also, my problem with the image, which is really well-crafted and with a lot of care actually thrown into the product, is the fact that it is too offensive for me to casually like, yet too shallow and unfunny to enjoy or admire in another way (I mean, Garth Ennis' Preacher, which is so offensive I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to re-read it now after conversion, is nonetheless absolutely hilarious, witty and somewhat clever, with certain Tarantinesque charm; Christian Woman by Type O Negative is this edgy petty blasphemy - and I wonder how Steele must have felt about it after he reverted to Catholicism later in life - but it is hilarious - I don't see anything like this with Ghost, especially since when I saw them live, Forge was just walking along the podium beating himself in the chest while the nameless ghouls were sweating their balls off in the cassocks).

With that in mind, I rather appreciate their toning it a bit down, with this album being potentially their/his least "Satanic" and most personal (I mean, Satanized and Guiding Lights could be reinterpreted as borderline Christian metal songs, lol), although I don't pay that much attention to the lyrics anyway.
 
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