Ghost (or Ghost B.C. or w/e) -- Swedish Pop Metal in Satan's Service

thanks for ringing the bell only to leave a bag of flaming shit on the mat, JD.

had never heard "sensefield". gonna be all morning scrubbing that shit outta my brain with a toothbrush.

note to all interested parties: this sounds nothing like sneesefield.

― I have many lovely lacy nightgowns (contenderizer), Thursday, April 18, 2013 7:20 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Ha! I was just being mean. It WAS the first thing that popped into my head when I heard it, though. Can't get behind this band at all.

nor can pitchfork metal dude, which bums me out cuz so many (apparently) take tips from them :(

accessibility and catchiness get a bad rap in certain quarters. a shame, imo.

I'm so happy to have stumbled upon this thread. I didn't even know they had a new album out. Opus Eponymous proved that Satan does have the best music, and if this anything like that, it will be well worth a download.

dig the look. reminds me of a less manic arcturus

On first listen, I'm not sure I like this better than Opus Eponymous. It seems the organ is more prominent and there's more of an oompah-band rhythm going on, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but the songs didn't grab me as much at first, except for "Secular Haze" which is pretty catchy. Calling Opus "approximately four brilliant songs padded out to album length" sets a pretty high bar. It doesn't seem like there are even four songs on this as good as the best stuff on Opus, but I'll try to keep an open mind.

Maybe I was a bit too hard on this. It's been growing on me. I still think it could have been a couple of songs shorter, and I'm not sure it matches the highs of Opus, but complaining would be churlish of me.

can not keep a straight face listening to this record, and i mean that in the best possible way

totally.
its a proper chesiree cat grin album ..

Dang, Opus is good. I love the concept (bubblegum Satanic ought to be perennial), so I'm glad I like all of the songs too.

*Satanism

The new record definitely isn't as strong as Opus Eponymous for me, but I still like it a great deal.

I'm with the man from Pitchfork on this one. Too many weak melodies. I do really like Ghuleh, though.

"Ghuleh" is great.

new album !

kids vs satanic doom rock :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0Ao4t_fe0I

cannot wait.

"Cirice" is so goddamn catchy. I hope the whole album is like that.

whole album is great. ends with an evil hymn

Album is rocking in a strange kind of Darkness / Queensryche manner.

The world is on fiyah.

I haven't heard this yet, how does it compare to their previous stuff?

On first listen (so apply liberal grains of salt), I'm leaning towards "return to form". A bit front-loaded perhaps, but doesn't wear out its welcome.

very brief discussion of the new one on Rolling Metal

He Is = one of 2015's best songs

almost embarrassed by how much I like this album

when i return to normal life, i.e. next week when mk2 goes back to school and i go back into the office,
this is top of the list to help me get through the week.

suspect that the more excessive/prog/psych they become the more i will love them.

Old-school Satan worship filtered through contemporary Swedish pop production. The record's producer, Klas Ahlund, has previously worked with Robyn, Britney Spears and Katy Perry.

that moment at the end of "Spirit" where Papa Emeritus hits the high note on "spiiiiii-iiii-riiiiiit" right into the dope riff is ace

THE WORLD IS ON FI-YAH

The world is on fiyah.

― obstacle illusion (calstars), Tuesday, August 25, 2015 5:24 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^ this song just makes me want to start it all over again

HE IS

"from the pinnacle to the pit" is molten blue oyster cult / uriah heep alloy

My impression of the new one is that it will appeal especially to people who liked the debut but thought the band lost the path on the second.

i'm liking the MASTER MUSICIANS OF BUKKAKE vibes i'm hearing

got the vinyl in mail today and loving it

bloody hell, one listen in, and I am in awe of this.

so so much fun.

told you

let's rank the hooks on this thing:

1. all of He Is

2. "You are cast out from the heavens to the ground. Blackened feathers falling down"

3. "Put your hands up and reach for the sky / cry for absolution!"

4. "The world is on fi-yahhh, and you are here to stay and burn with me"

what else?

"Old oneeeeeeee...masterrrrrrrrrr"

If the title of "mummy dust" wasn't the same, I'd have no idea what papa is saying

originally thought it was latin

There is a certain volume at which this gets really good

what, "off"?

(I don't think this at all, I fell on that sword so no other jokester could zing Ghost itt)

There is a certain volume at which this gets really good

agree 100% ...

put the album on earlier at a good volume, and it totally opened up.

I'm mostly listened to it on headphones thus far.

Def Lep chorus on Absolution comes out of fucking nowhere

still can't figure out why the vocals are a dealbreaker for so many. can't imagine Ghost without them

yeah. pfork review was baffling.

also for calling deus in absentia a weaker song or something like that

just really curious why *this* is the band in 2015 that metalheads are defensive about when the Butcher Babies exist.

Was very surprised/ intrigued that the new 2xCD Ghost live album was one of the few items in the Target music section today. Alongside Taylor Swift, BTS, Weezer etc.

Tobias has an extraordinary ear for 80s pop/glam metal detail, and that nuance keeps me interested in Ghost as they lean toward the pop side more and more. However, Vixen might want to have a word with him about that (undeniably catchy) chorus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLG9oTH-ZbQ

Which vixen song do you hear

"Cryin'".

The album is like a Heart album from the 80s if the Wilsons were really into Satan

lol

Ripping through every poem
Like a vampire should

Love rockets
Shot right in between your eyes

Funny how you mentioned Heart, because my upcoming review for PopMatters references Ron Nevison's production on Bad Animals!

And I gotta say, the love rockets song, goofy as it is, is sonically a PERFECT recreation of glam metal circa 1988.

Overall, I'm getting serious Savage Amusement vibes from the new record.

Scorps fans, IYKYK.

That "Lachryma" riff is very Bark At The Moon.

Tab will be in next month’s guitar world

Has Tobias ever written about love so explicitly before

not grabbed the new album yet,
but the live album is very much in line with what i would expect.
i.e. the dark rock version of 101 by depeche mode.

Listening to all the albums in reverse chron order (so many hidden gems) and tempted to do an album poll but conscious that there are like four of us here who wgaf

2nd spin of the new album and yeah, beginning to work its magic.
decided to grab the cd when i could as any new release on cd these days becomes a rarity very quickly given that labels are only interested in the vinyl options.

Love rockets
Shot right in between your eyes
― calstars, Saturday, 10 May 2025 03:25

not going to lie, that lyric made me proper lol.
doubt this track will get an airing on radio2.

(GHOST have had love from radio2 in the uk!)

also, for this album campaign tobias has become a lot more visible.
loads of interviews and suchlike as per his non-GHOST persona.
i.e. boring.
if they make another album will he drop the whole Pope/mask thing ?

can't drop that, i don't think. and stay Ghost, at least. if you drop that, then you're probably dropping the Nameless Ghouls and the theatrics of the live show, and then some percentage of your audience is bailing, right? i gotta believe something like a quarter of Ghost's audience would balk at arena prices if they weren't getting the big show that reminds them of the metal of their youth / their dad's metal.

agree.
checked the credits for new album, and yeah, 'a nameless ghoul' is still very much part of the story.
just a little concerned re the current mask situation as its not really a Pope set up is it.

Concerned?

After a couple of listens I’m really starting to lock in on the vibe and getting it. It’s this weird sort of nostalgia for that era before it was all hair metal, it was out there and creeping in, but I couldn’t hear much of it in the middle of nowhere and was stuck flipping through a friend’s older brother’s stack of metal vinyl imagining what it must sound like.

Such 1987 vibes on this record.

“Just wanna be /
Wanna be witchu in the moonlight”

https://i.postimg.cc/GpNBMQsR/IMG-2876.jpg
“Come together…”

*rats*
Oh whoah-oh

*rats*
Oh whoah-oh

*rats*
Oh whoah-oh

*rats*
Oh whoah-oh

*rats*

“Every day that you feed me with hate I grow stronger…”

The band they remind me of most is the Darkness. Pop songs that take the piss at their genre

fuck yes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t-g615PEtg