Ghost- Meliora [Review]

Ghost- Meliora

Listen: Spotify 

Buy: Official Store, iTunes

Genre: Heavy metal, doom metal, hard rock

Who else was psyched for the newest release from everyone's favorite Satanic theatrical classic heavy metal band whose members don't have names? I know I was! Ghost (also known as Ghost BC for copyright reasons) is a Swedish metal band that sounds as if Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, and post-Watershed Opeth had a beautiful, faux Satanic baby. Their status as "metal" is contested by some metalheads, but I've seen metalheads contest Between the Buried and Me's status as "metal", so we can pretty safely say they have no idea what they're talking about. While Ghost clearly aren't nearly as heavy as bands like BTBAM, they're heavy, and what really matters: they're good. Their first two albums, 2010's "Opus Eponymous" and 2013's "Infestissumam" (the titles of which should give you a solid grip on what kind of band this is), were excellent and received a lot of well deserved praise and attention (including from Dave Grohl, who has actually played with the band), but "Meloria", just released this past week blows both of them out of the water. Papa Emeritus (the lead singer, in his third incarnation) and the Nameless Ghouls (the rest of the band. Seriously.) take classic doom metal, occult lyrics, and pop melodies and merge them into something truly impressive. 

From the opening bell and synth, "Spirit" sounds like the soundtrack to some metaled out Halloween special. It also sounds like it came straight out of the late 70s, in a good way. And finally, as with most Ghost songs, it sounds like *pop*. The incredibly catchy melodies to every song (most notably penultimate track "Absolution") stick in your head and never leave. Papa Emeritus and co. keep both the crunchy riffs and the catchy hooks coming, often at the same time, as in highlight "Cirice", which opens with an Opeth-esque acoustic guitar section that builds with drums and synths before exploding into one of the heaviest riffs this side of "War Pigs" as Papa howls over it "Can you hear the thunder? Can you hear the thunder that's breaking?", before flipping it in the back half of the song to respond "I can feel the thunder! I can feel the thunder that's breaking in your heart."

An acoustic guitar riff that can only be described as beautiful runs opens and runs throughout "He Is", which is basically a Christian rock song, except with the key difference of being dedicated to... Satan. This ain't your mommy's metal. If your mommy listens to metal. She probably doesn't. But if she does, this isn't it. 

Weak points are rare to nonexistent here, the closest we get is the chuggy and downright creepy "Mummy Dust" and the rather forgettable "From the Pinnacle to the Pit", both of which are actually really great. The two interludes "Spöksonat" and "Devil Church" both do their job effectively without making too much of a mark, while the overtly classic rock influenced "Majesty" and the catchy—if slightly overlong—closer "Deus In Absentia" both rock. That sounds over-simplistic, but it's the most accurate way to describe them and the album as a whole. This album ROCKS. 

"Meloria" has already worked its way into my top 10 list of 2015, and while it may not remain there (we've still got new stuff from the Wonder Years, TesseracT, and Kanye West among others coming), it's an extremely enjoyable record. And remember, don't take Ghost too seriously (they sure as hell don't take themselves seriously). Just take it in and make sure to headbang and tell your friends about it. 

Two tracks that might turn you to the side of the Satanic Pope: "Cirice" and "Absolution".  

Overall score: 81/100