Review by Phil Rozier for MPM
In sometime back in 2024, there was some rumours and tinter web goss about a new Ghost album being released in ‘early 2025’. Those of you who have conditions, will know what that is like. Like a meeting at 3pm in the afternoon, and its 9 in the morning, you sit, agitated, all day, until that meeting has been and gone.
For me, I’d almost go one further. Last time I saw Ghost, was in the UK in 2022. I’m guessing that was probably the 5th time I’ve seen them, and since then I’ve basically been waiting. Sure, the seasons, the planetary alignments, the weather, work, Christmas’s, holidays etc… They all just form a blur as you sit. And wait.
My agitated state was shaken just earlier this week, when the YouTube trailer for Lachryma was released. In true comedic tongue in cheek style, Ghost have opted to continue the horror and santanic, with a touch of fairy tale, theme. The short trailer, with its ear piercing scream, kicked started my heart, and I’m awake again. The time has come for another Ghost single to drop onto of the recently released ‘Satanized’
Keyboards, straight from TV shows like ‘Stranger Things’, and we’re taken to maybe early 80’s horror flicks. The slight distance, the reverb, the sense of mystery. Oooooh what’s going to happen next? What’s to come!?!
I’ll tell you what’s to come once I’ve picked my face back up off the floor!! The amazing raw power face melting riff, straight out of what could be the fingers of Randy Rhodes, is shortly followed by the most thumping of bass lines. It’s only one note! But it’s the most banging intro to any song I’ve heard for years! Any reader ever feel like they’re in a Ghost video when you listen to their tracks? I’m feeling like I’m a mere mortal trapped in one of their worlds, where the latest Papa has me fixated and lost amongst the music, by a wave of demonic commitment.
Don’t worry, I’m not about to sacrifice a goat, but, I might just sway uncontrollably around the kitchen as the chorus beckons me to sing along.
The sound and feel is truly Ghost. Slightly 80’s metal, slightly ABBA, slightly Black Sabbath, all rolled into a theatrical performance with more than just musicians playing. Surrounded by attitude, storey telling, super clever mystique and a movie like experience.
Ghost as a band, aren’t just a band. They’re a ‘thing’, a soul, a character, a culture. As with all cultures, they have fans, and they have ‘not so fans’. But I am definitely a disciple and long may I try to get as many followers worshiping Papa V and his Nameless Ghouls.
I still have nearly 2 weeks to wait until the next Ghost album is released. But at least my wait is somehow made to feel less lonely, now that Lachryma is my head.
