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

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.

Def Lep chorus on Absolution comes out of fucking nowhere

I've been picking up Def Lep vibes in a few places on this as well. I guess it's the sweet harmonies, multiple bridge/chorus hooks, and slick production.

First 40 seconds of He Is is very Interpol like

He Is sounds a lot like shack/mick head

xp the vocals, yeah. the instruments are not very interpol at all, though.

i'm helping my folks move into their new place tomorrow and I feel like I could play this for her and she might like something like "He Is" without realizing she's humming along to delightful chewy little paeans to Satan.

"and you're doing fine, worshipping your Lord"

I love the choral breakdown at the end.

So the humor here is pretty evident. If that's the case, that they're taking the piss, then the conclusion from a religious belief standpoint is that they are laughing at the ridiculousness of either the existence of Satan or his personality.

Mummy Dust is skippable, the rest of this essential (interludes aside)

Got my tix to see em next month

anyone seen Purson? i've never heard a note.

i'm three hours from the closest show and srsly considering making the drive, if Purson's great live it'd make my decision a lot easier

he is insurrection, he is spite

Man even if Ned Beatty opens for Ghost...get thee there

love the "ordinary world" vibe on the "he is" outro solo

also love the solo on "cirise." very pagey. such rover.

RAISE YOUR HANDS UP AND REACH FOR THE SKY!

"If you have ghosts" is so pop

tomorrow night - Orlando. this could be a show of the year candidate!

Even now when you're here you are moving
Hysterically seeking out what needs improving
And you're still asking for the sun

All those things that you desire
You will find there in the fire

Put your hands up and reach for the sky
Cry for absolution
You'll be down on your knees and you'll cry
Cry for absolution

I'll stick up for Infestissumam. I think it still has some incredible bubblegum hooks.

See this band live. Holy shit.

I was just coming here to say Infestissumam gets a bad rap. Seems like everyone I've talked to about Meliora is like "Yup, much better than the last one" or "Yeah they finally gave us the follow-up to the debut that we deserve."

Infestissumam is killerrrrr.

one of the best live shows I've ever seen. the theatricality of it really takes the music to another level.

plus the guitars, which are a bit muted on disc, positively CRACK live. the vocals sounded great too.

they also very much know how to construct a setlist. "Spirit" right into "From the Pinnacle to the Pit" and then "Ritual" to begin, "He Is" toward the midway mark, ending with "If You Have Ghosts". they played almost all of Meliora!

I then got into a row with the street Xtians afterwards

bloody hell.
this album on headphones : immense.
wish i had the chance to see them live.

they also very much know how to construct a setlist. "Spirit" right into "From the Pinnacle to the Pit" and then "Ritual" to begin, "He Is" toward the midway mark, ending with "If You Have Ghosts". they played almost all of Meliora!

this sounds like the perfect concert set to me.

so i saw them last night and holy shit ... amazing. two solid hours of basically nothing but killer songs, absolutely seamless playing and obviously engaging stage presence/performance. setlist was nicely spread across the three album, hitting all the best stuff.

best show I've seen in quite some time. i was especially happy about how long it was (and I'm generally a "75 minutes is enough, thanks" kind of concertgoer)

absolutely MASSIVE band

for me this is the 2015 released album i have enjoyed more than anything else.

i have had friends round and played 'he is' etc, to them, and they were totally in the 'who is this?' groove.

Alpine otm re: massive

It's grown on me a lot. I must not have been in the right mood when it came out, or just bored of Ghost. It's a huge step up from the last album.

It's a huge step up from the last album.

agreed.

the mix of tunes, expansive production, and choirs really hits hard on the new album.

They're on Colbert tonight. I'm guessing they'll go with Pinnacle to the Pit, but I could totally see He Is being the song that breaks them to a much bigger audience.

They went with "Cirice". Clip is on Youtube.

That was cool. Satanic pop metal on national TV! I figured Cirice would be too long, but they got it down to 4 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMWeIRX-ZHE

Really well done!

that was pretty great, the filter was a corny but nice touch