Ghost’s image and stage set up is really quite striking. They have had quite a meteoric rise up the fame ladder and are now playing stadium-sized venues. Let’s take away the image, does the music stand up? Yes, it does in ways that take you by surprise. All the hype surrounding them says they are the saviour of metal, but they are way more than a mere metal band. There are elements of Prog and AORin there as well.
This album was released in 2015 and is the only album I own by them. Spirit opens up the album and that metal/Prog crossover is very apparent with very melodic melodies. From The Pinnancle To The Pit is my favourite track. I love the main riff and the bass line is killer. The main hook and melody sound medieval. A very Metallica-style intro to Cirice, but the vocal melody sounds as though they belong on a Yes album – a very strange pairing that oddly works. He Is is as faraway from metal as you get. A seriously melodic tune with acoustic guitars, and was that a mellotron I heard?
Mummy Dust opens up Side 2 and its full on metallic chuggas with bursts of Rick Wakeman-style keys. Devil Church kicks in with a big classic rock guitar riff and the Hammond in the background. Absolution is about as heavy as this band get, on this album anyway. Dues In Absentia closes out the album and it’s the grandest sounding Prog epic, as the title suggests.
It’s a decent album to listen to and something different from the norm.
8/10 from The Grooveman.
