Review by Phil Rozier for MPM
On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being about as interested as picking up a poo by the clean end, and 10 being delirious with joy and elation, I’m somewhere around a 200 right now. Imagine, just a couple of weeks ago, the most awesome performing band in the world right now, Ghost, announced the release date of their latest album, Skeleta.
Pretty much at the same time, they drop the first single from album number 6, ‘Satanized’. As we all know, far more than a single, this was a birth. It was the resurrection of the much-awaited Papa V. Known as Papa V Perpetua, the latest in a line of Ghoul leaders, Papa V is drenched in opulent ropes, skeletal structures and even a pair of bat like wings.
As if that wasn’t enough to keep my child like brain entertained for days on end, the wonderous macabre machine that is Ghost, hits me with single number 2, ‘Lachryma’. Not alone in being part of the Ghost worshippers club, thousands of us in the UK specifically, also had the start of the new world tour kicking off before the full Skeleta album is released on the 25th April. Pass the air, I am feeling faint! Currently already on cloud 9 after seeing Ghost perform in London (check that review out on the MPM website as well!), I get the absolute pleasure and exclusivity of hearing Skeleta before the masses. There is a God!? Or is that, there is a Papa?
Fully prepared to take the space and time required to do any musical creation the attention it deserves, I spent today playing the album over, and over, and yes, over again. Trying to keep my mind free of distraction, and away from influence of already available reviews, I then become aware that the 3rd single from the new album, ‘Peacefield’ was released this afternoon! Seriously, come on, give a guy a break! I’ve been leaching adrenaline for days now! Stop! I’m 45 years old now, I need time to recover!
Seeing as ‘Peacefield’ is the opener of Skeleta, let’s dive (or swoop if I could borrow Papa’s wings) right into it…
A peaceful choirlike voice leads the listener down the aisle of the church, and into your seat. Pull up a pew and get ready for the 80’s to make a comeback! The Def Leppard style guitar lick, with its reverb, chorus and a touch of delay… is Phil Collen one of the Ghouls?! If not, Phil, get on the blower to Tobias, see what you can arrange, this is right up your street. ‘Peacefield’ is just what you want it to be. Loud, stadium rock feel, with a banging sing along chorus. Exactly what you’d expect from a Ghost opening track. Think clenched fists raised high, over the top pyrotechnics, key changes, and a touch of 80’s ‘Journey’ about it. Oh, and the triplets on the drums towards the back end of the track. Come on! This is outstanding!
Similar to the album, I won’t mess about. We’re straight into ‘Lachryma’. Having already been fortunate enough to review this track (see the singles reviews on MPM), I’m blessed to hear it again. That thumping bass gets me every time. I can’t sit still. Head banging, face melted off by the cutting riff, then somewhat gently supported as the ‘crying… over someone like you…’ vocals allow some balance. Less than 4 days ago, I was part of 20,000 people rocking in unison and singing the chorus out loud, as if it was a 40-year old 80’s classic. One thing Ghost are unexplainably good at, is creating a track, that is already a classic, from another generation, and yet, making it sound more modern and relevant than ever.
‘Satanized’ is track 3. The first single from the new album, and similar to ‘Lachryma’, it already feels part of the musical furniture. Comfortingly familiar, palm mutingly (is that a word?) chugging, and a belting chorus ‘save me, from the monster that is eating me’. Meaningful for some, playful for others. As with all Ghost tracks, there is something for everyone, and you can find what ever you are looking for in the wide-open lyrics.
Luckily for me, ‘Guiding Lights’ is a touch slower, but just as powerful. ‘the road that leads to nowhere, is long, and those that seek to go there, are lost’. Good, I can catch a breather whilst travelling this road before the next track blows my socks off. A beautiful track, combining melodic choruses and 80’s keyboards. What’s not to like?!?
Track 5, Latin titled ‘De Profundis Borealis’. I could try and look that up, as ‘De Profundis’ is known Latin, as is ‘Borealis’. Of course it is. Everyone knows that Profundis can translate into ‘from the depths’ and Borealis is often used as a descriptive for ‘Northern’. So we’ve got some kind of ‘from the depths of the North’? Oscar Wilde famously wrote his ‘from jail’ letter, using this title. The magic of the tinterweb has taught me, that the man himself, brains behind Ghost, Tobias Forge, in an interview with Metal Hammer, explained that this is kind of a ‘from the Abyss’ track. Like a snowstorm, fierce and relentless. Gaining momentum. Whatever the meaning, or purpose, I’m just loving the banging beats, alternate picking guitar thumping, and the orchestral drone of the whispering backing vocals.
‘Cenotaph’ opens with the gentle tapping of the high hat, accompanied by more 80’s sounding keyboard. Adding in more palm muting from the six strings and Papa’s recognisable vocals, you’ve got a banging beat, nearly Status Quo like in its interludes (trust me, wait and listen!). I just didn’t think I’d ever find myself combining 80’s keyboards, heavy riffing guitars and Status Quo in the same sentence. And yet, if people knew you were describing Ghost, I think ‘standard’ could be used as a retort. Anthemic, racing at pace, the chugging just keeps coming. Loving the almost ‘West End Theatre’ ending. Wait for it, you’ll get it.
‘Love rockets, shot right in between your eyes’ is I think what the lyrics cry out as part of track 7. Again, ‘standard’ for lyrics associated to Ghost one might conclude. With similarities to the hard rocking guitar riff of Lachryma, this is another four and half minutes of head banging, guitar squealing, rocktastic, poptastic indulgence.
‘Marks of the Evil One’ takes us into the last 3 tracks of Skeleta. What more to be said that hasn’t already been covered?! It’s another belter of a track, that, I think is almost designed to be the calm before the storm. The storm being, the next track, ‘Umbra’. Opening with the soft keyboard tones, and galloping back drop, you cannot help but think Tobias was just having the most amazing fun when the ripping mid fret guitar riff paves the way for that most upbeat of banging sounds. Make way for the… cow bell! More cow bell! Fast paced, modern, dripping with nostalgia, and yet as fresh as morning dew.
That’s what Ghost are, right? Steeped in well thought through design, reflecting the religious era perhaps not as once popularised as it once was. Taking historical influences in sound and topic, but reinvigorating with a spatter of modernity, irony and curiosity. The Ghost sound is one of playful reinvention. The Ghost image is one of the same. Literally, as the production reinvents itself time after time. With each resurrection comes ultimate comfort, combined with the freshest of new sounds.
A lengthy finisher by the albums standards, ‘Excelsis’ rounds us off with 6 minutes of peace and calm. A come down from the high. ‘Come with me, to the rainbows end’. OK Tobias, what ever you say. I, along with the masses of Ghost disciples are ready to be led. Take us.
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