MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
How so? It wasn’t a set highlight for me, but better than a few others for sure.
Ghostvivor: Results
- Thread starter Collin
- Start date
How so? It wasn’t a set highlight for me, but better than a few others for sure.
I was bored.
Palpy
Blacker than the night
Some of them are Italian, the rest meaningless stuff. The only Latin words in the album seem misused: Deus Culpa ("God Fault") should probably be Dei Culpa ("God's Fault") while in Prime Mover I'd replace "Sancti" with "Sanctus", which makes more sense. ("Sathanas/AntiChrist/of unHoly Spirit" vs "Sathanas/AntiChrist/unHoly Spirit")
Still effective, anyway.
My first impression of the debut is really positive! These guys have great riffs and the songwriting prowess can already be heard on songs like Ritual and Satan Prayer. The production is pretty raw but I don't consider that a bad thing at all. I think rock/metal could use more raw sounding stuff. The production isn't bad at all, every instrument is clear and the energy is palpable.
The vocals are probably the band's weak link, but the melody writing is so strong that I find myself excusing it more often than not. They kind of remind me of Blue Oyster Cult. Not the strongest vocalists you'll ever hear, but the melodies and harmonies make it work. The songs are also written with the vocalist's limits in mind (Dream Theater: take notes).
Overall, it's the perfect blend of heaviness and pop sensibilities. Also, a healthy dose of Satanism never hurt anyone.
From the debut I'll be voting for Deus Culpa, Death Knell, and Prime Mover.
Will listen to the next album later.
The vocals are probably the band's weak link, but the melody writing is so strong that I find myself excusing it more often than not. They kind of remind me of Blue Oyster Cult. Not the strongest vocalists you'll ever hear, but the melodies and harmonies make it work. The songs are also written with the vocalist's limits in mind (Dream Theater: take notes).
Overall, it's the perfect blend of heaviness and pop sensibilities. Also, a healthy dose of Satanism never hurt anyone.
From the debut I'll be voting for Deus Culpa, Death Knell, and Prime Mover.
Will listen to the next album later.
Cosmiceddie
Back From The Edge
Somebody slap me in the face, for somebody has voted for Monstrance Clock already. 
Christoffer
Nomad
Year Zero
Collin
Chasing Ponce De Leon's Phantoms
Blasphemous!Somebody slap me in the face, for somebody has voted for Monstrance Clock already.
Even more blasphemous! Please explain why!
Collin
Chasing Ponce De Leon's Phantoms
The acoustic version of Jigolo is amazing, check that out if you can. Curious to know why you voted for Zombie Queen?
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
Oh god, it's Saturday. Time to review both of these albums back-to-back and figure out what the fucking hell I should vote for.
Ghost - Opus Eponymous
1. Deus Culpa - It's nothing more than a keyboard intro that does absolutely nothing for me. A good intro should get you pumped for the album to come, but this doesn't do it at all. It's just boring and feels too... light for anything of substance. I guess it's some short of Swedish carol played backwards? Okay, cool. The only thing this piece does is make the intro to the next song better than it would have been without this forerunner. Bland. 2/10
2. Con Clavi Con Dio - A really cool, raw bass (I think) opening leads to guitar and drums entering the scene and it's really cool. Forge's "Lucifer!" shout and ensuing verse is solid, but the following piece which, I guess, is the pre-chorus, is even better, but it's just in and out in no time that it can't really stick with you. The actual chorus is simple and not offensive, but doesn't do anything for me. Repeat riff, repeat verse, repeat pre-chorus, and then we get into a little heavier bit that's not bad. A more sinister vocal piece from Forge before we enter the solo section which is pretty solid. And then we just repeat the chorus piece until the end. This song has so much potential, but it's only three-and-a-half minutes long and that means that all these little pieces it has don't have any time to prove themselves. The ending is too sudden and the song shouldn't have ended where it did. This song is proof that just because you have a lot of good pieces doesn't mean your song is going to be good. It just smacks of wasted potential and I really can't muster up the energy to give it a score higher than 5/10.
3. Ritual - A good guitar opening with some nice drumming start this next song off before we get into a great heavy riff piece. The production is raw, but I actually quite like it. Each instrument is audible and it's one of the highlights of this album. The verse is really good, but the chorus is awesome. That extra piece after the second verse works so well before the longer chorus. A faster piece follows that chorus with some menacing words, before we enter a really nice solo piece and return to that verse and that god-awesome chorus. By the time it's done, there's still a minute left of the song to go and they fill that out with some nice guitar stuff and we fade out in a fabulous exit. I really, really like this song. It's proof that Ghost's style can succeed so long as they have the right ingredients and the time to expand on each piece. It's easily the best actual song between the two first albums, and just for that, I think I'll go ahead and give it top marks, because it really, really hits the mark so well. Great song. 10/10
4. Elizabeth - An action-packed opening starts this song off before we enter Mercyful Fate's "Gypsy". Seriously, that's the first thing I thought of when I first heard this song and I wouldn't be surprised if they took that page right of the older band's work. Satan lyrics and all, y'know. Anyway, they do a solid verse despite the obvious connection, which brings me to the chorus itself, which is almost out of place, but at the same time is weirdly interesting to my ears. He's not pronouncing "Elizabeth" right, but I guess that's an odd attraction? The whole chorus threw me off on my first listen, but I kinda like it now. A return to the Fate-esque verse before we reach the solo, and if you didn't think Mercyful Fate was an influence on Ghost and this song, just listen to that solo. It could've easily fit on Don't Break The Oath, and there's a part of me that wonders if it wasn't lifted directly from that album... Unlike Jer, I'm not hard on similarities between songs if they're done well, and shockingly, Ghost does it well! This song took a few listens to get into but I quite like it now. It's not perfect, but it's pretty close, with a lot of mood and a lot of feel to it. For Ghost, it's pretty great. 9/10
5. Stand By Him - A decent opening before we enter a decent verse that suffers from some pretty dumb lyrics ("The devil's power is the greatest one!") A short and not outstanding pre-chorus leads to the actual chorus, which is pretty bland. A solo-esque piece leads to a whispered bridge which isn't bad, and then we return to the verse which is a little better here, but only leads to the chorus again, and I'm still not big on it. This brings the song to an end. "Stand By Him" just does nothing whatsoever for me, and it's overall nothing but a forgettable track that has the misfortune of following two pretty great ones. So much for that. 5/10
6. Satan Prayer - A decent guitar opening fades in before the drums kick in and... there's no bite whatsoever. For a song called "Satan Prayer" I'd like some bite to it, but this has nothing. The verse has quite vocals from Forge, but he does the weirdest job of connecting "Believe in one god, do we" with "Satan Almighty". He says the latter line too quickly and is left trying to pull out the last syllable and it just bothers the fuck out of me. The pre-chorus is solid but goes nowhere, the verse still doesn't do anything, and when the chorus does come it's just stupid at this point. The solo section is kinda cool, though. I like the pre-chorus again, but it still goes nowhere and god is that annoying. The chorus is still bland. I swear to god, it doesn't even sound English, and for someone like Forge who actual does a good job at pronunciation, it's just bland. Meh. Good pre-chorus and good solo but otherwise this song is just stupid. 4/10
7. Death Knell - A rainy opening starts this song off before we get some drumming and a rising bass before the guitar and vocals come in. It's not a bad verse, but Forge's singing just doesn't work as well as he and a lot of people seem to think. The chorus is both worse and better. I swear, the way he pronounces "six, six, six" makes it sound like "Satan, Satan, Satan". The drawn-out note on "hell" is pretty cool, though. The rest of the chorus just doesn't do anything special. The instrumental isn't outstanding either. Other than that long note in the chorus, this song does basically nothing for me and is nothing more than a weird mix of a bunch of different things that don't really work. 4/10
8. Prime Mover - An interesting guitar opening begins this song off and it's a pretty weird, happy-ish kind of affair which I'm not sure if I like or not. Before we head into the actual body there's a cool guitar - bass - guitar kind of piece. The verse doesn't knock it out of the park. The chorus is pretty cool, though. The bridge that follows isn't, but redeems itself with a cool "Sathanas..." whispered piece. That entry to the chorus is still pretty great. I feel like this song could've been longer though. A more drawn-out ending or another repeat of the "Sathanas..." thing would have worked a little better. There's still a lot of weird stuff going on in this song that I can't forgive, but the chorus is good enough that I can bring up the score over some of the other songs here. With some alterations it could've even been a highlight, but for now I'll go with a solid 6/10.
9. Genesis - I'm not sure what this opening instrument is, but I assume it's some sort of keyboard piece? It's pretty great, and that slam into guitar is awesome. Some build-up before we enter the main part of the song and god is it good. Pumping, moving, flowing, the guitar sounds so great here I love it. Perhaps it's the fact that it's an instrumental and that doesn't open up the risk that we'll enter some weird vocal shit, but whatever it is it makes this song work really well. It almost loses it at the slight change-up but somehow flawlessly manages to keep a hold of itself. It feels like a Satanic wedding or Satanic birth or something... I mean, this is literally the only song on the whole album that feels sinister. Even the good ones aren't good because of any menace, but this one has that menace. The song ends with an acoustic piece, which I don't think is a suitable way to end it, honestly. Could've been longer and returned to the electric stuff from previous for a big, epic closure to an inconsistent album, but alas. Just for that I'll dock it a point, but I'm unwilling to go any lower because most of this instrumental is awesome. 9/10
Opus Eponymous has three great songs, but the rest just kinda float around the average mark. I honestly really like the production here, it's very clear and sounds great and I'm not sure why people are ripping on that. My issue is the actual songs themselves... they just aren't that good. "Ritual", "Elizabeth", and "Genesis" somehow manage to knock it out of the park, but the rest are full of missteps, wasted potential, and some fucking weird shit. And I still think I prefer this album to its follow-up, so you can already tell how that's gonna go.
Overall: 6.00/10
Ghost - Opus Eponymous
1. Deus Culpa - It's nothing more than a keyboard intro that does absolutely nothing for me. A good intro should get you pumped for the album to come, but this doesn't do it at all. It's just boring and feels too... light for anything of substance. I guess it's some short of Swedish carol played backwards? Okay, cool. The only thing this piece does is make the intro to the next song better than it would have been without this forerunner. Bland. 2/10
2. Con Clavi Con Dio - A really cool, raw bass (I think) opening leads to guitar and drums entering the scene and it's really cool. Forge's "Lucifer!" shout and ensuing verse is solid, but the following piece which, I guess, is the pre-chorus, is even better, but it's just in and out in no time that it can't really stick with you. The actual chorus is simple and not offensive, but doesn't do anything for me. Repeat riff, repeat verse, repeat pre-chorus, and then we get into a little heavier bit that's not bad. A more sinister vocal piece from Forge before we enter the solo section which is pretty solid. And then we just repeat the chorus piece until the end. This song has so much potential, but it's only three-and-a-half minutes long and that means that all these little pieces it has don't have any time to prove themselves. The ending is too sudden and the song shouldn't have ended where it did. This song is proof that just because you have a lot of good pieces doesn't mean your song is going to be good. It just smacks of wasted potential and I really can't muster up the energy to give it a score higher than 5/10.
3. Ritual - A good guitar opening with some nice drumming start this next song off before we get into a great heavy riff piece. The production is raw, but I actually quite like it. Each instrument is audible and it's one of the highlights of this album. The verse is really good, but the chorus is awesome. That extra piece after the second verse works so well before the longer chorus. A faster piece follows that chorus with some menacing words, before we enter a really nice solo piece and return to that verse and that god-awesome chorus. By the time it's done, there's still a minute left of the song to go and they fill that out with some nice guitar stuff and we fade out in a fabulous exit. I really, really like this song. It's proof that Ghost's style can succeed so long as they have the right ingredients and the time to expand on each piece. It's easily the best actual song between the two first albums, and just for that, I think I'll go ahead and give it top marks, because it really, really hits the mark so well. Great song. 10/10
4. Elizabeth - An action-packed opening starts this song off before we enter Mercyful Fate's "Gypsy". Seriously, that's the first thing I thought of when I first heard this song and I wouldn't be surprised if they took that page right of the older band's work. Satan lyrics and all, y'know. Anyway, they do a solid verse despite the obvious connection, which brings me to the chorus itself, which is almost out of place, but at the same time is weirdly interesting to my ears. He's not pronouncing "Elizabeth" right, but I guess that's an odd attraction? The whole chorus threw me off on my first listen, but I kinda like it now. A return to the Fate-esque verse before we reach the solo, and if you didn't think Mercyful Fate was an influence on Ghost and this song, just listen to that solo. It could've easily fit on Don't Break The Oath, and there's a part of me that wonders if it wasn't lifted directly from that album... Unlike Jer, I'm not hard on similarities between songs if they're done well, and shockingly, Ghost does it well! This song took a few listens to get into but I quite like it now. It's not perfect, but it's pretty close, with a lot of mood and a lot of feel to it. For Ghost, it's pretty great. 9/10
5. Stand By Him - A decent opening before we enter a decent verse that suffers from some pretty dumb lyrics ("The devil's power is the greatest one!") A short and not outstanding pre-chorus leads to the actual chorus, which is pretty bland. A solo-esque piece leads to a whispered bridge which isn't bad, and then we return to the verse which is a little better here, but only leads to the chorus again, and I'm still not big on it. This brings the song to an end. "Stand By Him" just does nothing whatsoever for me, and it's overall nothing but a forgettable track that has the misfortune of following two pretty great ones. So much for that. 5/10
6. Satan Prayer - A decent guitar opening fades in before the drums kick in and... there's no bite whatsoever. For a song called "Satan Prayer" I'd like some bite to it, but this has nothing. The verse has quite vocals from Forge, but he does the weirdest job of connecting "Believe in one god, do we" with "Satan Almighty". He says the latter line too quickly and is left trying to pull out the last syllable and it just bothers the fuck out of me. The pre-chorus is solid but goes nowhere, the verse still doesn't do anything, and when the chorus does come it's just stupid at this point. The solo section is kinda cool, though. I like the pre-chorus again, but it still goes nowhere and god is that annoying. The chorus is still bland. I swear to god, it doesn't even sound English, and for someone like Forge who actual does a good job at pronunciation, it's just bland. Meh. Good pre-chorus and good solo but otherwise this song is just stupid. 4/10
7. Death Knell - A rainy opening starts this song off before we get some drumming and a rising bass before the guitar and vocals come in. It's not a bad verse, but Forge's singing just doesn't work as well as he and a lot of people seem to think. The chorus is both worse and better. I swear, the way he pronounces "six, six, six" makes it sound like "Satan, Satan, Satan". The drawn-out note on "hell" is pretty cool, though. The rest of the chorus just doesn't do anything special. The instrumental isn't outstanding either. Other than that long note in the chorus, this song does basically nothing for me and is nothing more than a weird mix of a bunch of different things that don't really work. 4/10
8. Prime Mover - An interesting guitar opening begins this song off and it's a pretty weird, happy-ish kind of affair which I'm not sure if I like or not. Before we head into the actual body there's a cool guitar - bass - guitar kind of piece. The verse doesn't knock it out of the park. The chorus is pretty cool, though. The bridge that follows isn't, but redeems itself with a cool "Sathanas..." whispered piece. That entry to the chorus is still pretty great. I feel like this song could've been longer though. A more drawn-out ending or another repeat of the "Sathanas..." thing would have worked a little better. There's still a lot of weird stuff going on in this song that I can't forgive, but the chorus is good enough that I can bring up the score over some of the other songs here. With some alterations it could've even been a highlight, but for now I'll go with a solid 6/10.
9. Genesis - I'm not sure what this opening instrument is, but I assume it's some sort of keyboard piece? It's pretty great, and that slam into guitar is awesome. Some build-up before we enter the main part of the song and god is it good. Pumping, moving, flowing, the guitar sounds so great here I love it. Perhaps it's the fact that it's an instrumental and that doesn't open up the risk that we'll enter some weird vocal shit, but whatever it is it makes this song work really well. It almost loses it at the slight change-up but somehow flawlessly manages to keep a hold of itself. It feels like a Satanic wedding or Satanic birth or something... I mean, this is literally the only song on the whole album that feels sinister. Even the good ones aren't good because of any menace, but this one has that menace. The song ends with an acoustic piece, which I don't think is a suitable way to end it, honestly. Could've been longer and returned to the electric stuff from previous for a big, epic closure to an inconsistent album, but alas. Just for that I'll dock it a point, but I'm unwilling to go any lower because most of this instrumental is awesome. 9/10
Opus Eponymous has three great songs, but the rest just kinda float around the average mark. I honestly really like the production here, it's very clear and sounds great and I'm not sure why people are ripping on that. My issue is the actual songs themselves... they just aren't that good. "Ritual", "Elizabeth", and "Genesis" somehow manage to knock it out of the park, but the rest are full of missteps, wasted potential, and some fucking weird shit. And I still think I prefer this album to its follow-up, so you can already tell how that's gonna go.
Overall: 6.00/10
Number 6
Ancient Mariner
It has some very interesting ideas, but in the end it just goes on for too long, to the point I distracted myself during the second half and had to go back twice because I couldn't remember what it sounded like ten seconds later. I think it's my least favorite of all, tbh.
Collin
Chasing Ponce De Leon's Phantoms
Con Clavi Con Dio a 5???
I will rate your list a solid 2/10. This will properly be ranked as my least favorite Diesel list of all time. Please add that to my list, listkeeper.
Number 6
Ancient Mariner
It's at least an 8, IMO.
The only ones I agree with @Diesel 11 on are "Ritual" (it's also my favorite on the album, and overall so far), "Elizabeth" and "Genesis".
Deus Culpa - instrumental intro, meh.
Con Clavi Con Dio - probably prototypical early Ghost. 7/10.
Ritual - what Ghost will be come. 9/10.
Elizabeth - it's fine. 6/10.
Stand By Him - yeah, it's also fine, 5/10.
Satan Prayer - I find it to be overlong, 4/10.
Death Knell - I actually like this one a fair bit, 7/10.
Prime Mover - also fairly meh, 4/10.
Genesis - interesting instrumental? 5/10.
Infestissumam - a little more fun than Deus Culpa, for sure.
Per Aspera Ad Inferi - yeah, this is good. 8/10.
Secular Haze - It's kinda slow and I don't think it ever hits a gear that it should. 6/10.
Jigolo Har Megiddo - 7/10, decent but unmemorable.
Ghuleh / Zombie Queen - Wish you could skip the first part. 7/10.
Year Zero - 10/10 one of my favourite Ghost songs.
Body and Blood - and this is not. 5/10.
Idolatrine - gets into that mildly sillier groove that early Ghost does well. 7/10.
Depth of Satan's Eyes - blech 2/10.
Monstrance Clock - so much better live. 8/10.
La Mantra Mori - it's fine? 6/10.
Voting for Deus Culpa, Infestissumam, Depth of Satan's Eyes, Prime Mover, and Satan Prayer.
Con Clavi Con Dio - probably prototypical early Ghost. 7/10.
Ritual - what Ghost will be come. 9/10.
Elizabeth - it's fine. 6/10.
Stand By Him - yeah, it's also fine, 5/10.
Satan Prayer - I find it to be overlong, 4/10.
Death Knell - I actually like this one a fair bit, 7/10.
Prime Mover - also fairly meh, 4/10.
Genesis - interesting instrumental? 5/10.
Infestissumam - a little more fun than Deus Culpa, for sure.
Per Aspera Ad Inferi - yeah, this is good. 8/10.
Secular Haze - It's kinda slow and I don't think it ever hits a gear that it should. 6/10.
Jigolo Har Megiddo - 7/10, decent but unmemorable.
Ghuleh / Zombie Queen - Wish you could skip the first part. 7/10.
Year Zero - 10/10 one of my favourite Ghost songs.
Body and Blood - and this is not. 5/10.
Idolatrine - gets into that mildly sillier groove that early Ghost does well. 7/10.
Depth of Satan's Eyes - blech 2/10.
Monstrance Clock - so much better live. 8/10.
La Mantra Mori - it's fine? 6/10.
Voting for Deus Culpa, Infestissumam, Depth of Satan's Eyes, Prime Mover, and Satan Prayer.
Collin
Chasing Ponce De Leon's Phantoms
Both Interludes
Death Knell
Body and Blood
Satans Eyes
Both interludes are decent at setting the tone, but should not be in the game imo. Death Knell is easily the worst song here. Body and Blood is quite unmemorable and Satans Eyes has no place on the album. La Mantra Mori barely escapes but I will be voting for it next round. It’s literally the same thing for 4 minutes. Not surprised it didn’t make the album.
Death Knell
Body and Blood
Satans Eyes
Both interludes are decent at setting the tone, but should not be in the game imo. Death Knell is easily the worst song here. Body and Blood is quite unmemorable and Satans Eyes has no place on the album. La Mantra Mori barely escapes but I will be voting for it next round. It’s literally the same thing for 4 minutes. Not surprised it didn’t make the album.