Horsemen of the A-rock-alypse: Ghost’s ‘Skeletá’
Back with a new frontman and a fresh lick of paint, the Swedish metal giants herald the end of all things with ten hair metal anthems on new album.
★★★★★
Photo: Mikael Eriksson / M Industries
He’s the man behind the mask, and he’s back. Everyone’s favourite bone of contention in the metal world, Tobias Forge has put out his sixth album under the Ghost moniker: Skeletá. Three years on from the ‘80s influenced Impera — a reflection on the rise of far-right dogmas in the 21st century — Ghost’s newest effort seeks to double down on the glam metal highs and crunchy, subterranean depths.
One can’t talk about Ghost and its ever-changing frontman, ‘Papa Emeritus’, however, without discussing their sound. Since the group started in 2010, touting their Sabbath-esque debut Opus Eponymous to underground bars, Ghost have refused to fit a single definition. They started life as death metal, then something more psychedelic, before the mainstream success of Meliora. We had Prequelle, which introduced the childlike character of ‘Cardinal Copia’, and atypical Ghost tunes in Dance Macabre and Life Eternal. Impera saw social commentary in the form of hair metal homages and, thanks to TikTok, the stand-alone single Mary on a Cross remains a worldwide sensation.
Ghost, perhaps more than any other band in recent history, have faced their fair share of criticism. Devoted acolytes of their early stuff have found little to love in the group’s latest ventures, which, whilst undoubtedly hard rock, lean more into the wider mainstream than the sludgy black metal of older cuts Con Clavi Con Dio and Secular Haze.
And Skeletá isn’t letting up. In this ten-track release, singer-songwriter Tobias Forge doubles down on the influence of late ‘80s hair rock, promising heavy metal riffs and solos all shimmering in spandex and leather.
Skeletá forgoes the typical short instrumentals of previous Ghost albums, opting for a full-length, thundering powerhouse in opener Peacefield. From the first verse, we’re introduced to the main theme of the album: there’s a storm on the horizon (“Still we can see / A black moon over the peacefield / Oh child, stay close to me”). It’s haunting in a way only Forge’s songwriting can conjure, and the right choice to open Ghost’s latest effort.
Though the next track was most notable for its video upon release (featuring Forge out of a full mask for the first time in Ghost history), it proves a crunchy, gritty gnaw of a rock number. Lachryma stomps like a Meliora B-side, as our new Papa sings of “vile rot attack” love. It’s a track that swaggers and spits in equal measure.
Satanized, the lead single from Skeletá, is a behemoth of melodic, Manowar-esque rock. Its poppy hook is just as irresistible over a month after release, and spontaneous deep Latin chanting is as cool as it was back on Opus Eponymous. Plus, it’s about time we got a song that compares love to Satanic possession. That’s pretty metal.
Sometime in 2023, the people behind the animated adventure television series Arcane approached Forge for a track. The response was Guiding Lights, and though it ultimately found no place in the show, it’s found a home here. Thank God, it’s easily one of the best tunes Ghost have ever done. Chillingly poignant, and an Everestian high.
What follows next are some solid album tracks in De Profundis Borealis (‘from the northern abyss’) and Cenotaph. They’re newly broken ground for Ghost, but unmistakably that same Swedish band we know and love. The former is a Virgilian journey through raging blizzards; the latter is a poetic, pop-rocky number.
Missilia Amori stands out as the ‘non-single single’ of the piece. As Forge himself explains, it’s a “strip song”, pure ‘80s sleaze (“Love rockets / Shot right in between your eyes”) reshaped in the image of Ghost’s melodic rock sound. Marks of the Evil One, meanwhile, is destined to become a fan favourite. The lyrical successor of Impera’s Griftwood, this track deals with the fast emergence of far-right tyrants and political figures. Throw in some deliciously Ghost-y Apocalyptic imagery, and you have a deep cut that guts like a cleaver.
One of the few tracks to debut live before the album’s release, Umbra is a darkwave delight; hazy synths and angelic harmonies barrage into a raw, bruising rock tune. Our newly ordained Papa sings of godly seas and altars topped with black candles – a reference to Infestissumam’s beloved Monstrance Clock, perhaps? A bit power metal, a bit prog-rock, it’s a whole lot of fun.
Trying to close any Ghost album must seem a Sisyphean task. From Opus’ Genesis (meant to orchestrate the conception of the Antichrist) to Monstrance Clock and Respite on the Spitalfields, the bar is set high. Unfortunately, Excelsis — the final track on Skeletá – is the only weak link on the record. Though a fitting counterpart to its opener, it struggles to reach the soaring heights of previous Ghost epics.
That’s not to say the track offers nothing of value, though. Once more, it deals with themes of how time ravages all, and Death stops for no one. Skeletá is an introspective album; it’s as much a commentary on the self amidst the political landscape of our world as its predecessor. There’s just less Satan here, and truer-to-life threats. Throughout, Forge and his Nameless Ghouls weave each warning with delicious melodies, devilish riffs and Def Leppard-level crescendos. Skeletá won’t please older fans of the band, but it offers up ten glittering anthems nonetheless, rich with catchy hooks and prophetic evils. Hail to this new Papal era; thy will be done.
Skeletá is out now via Loma Vista Recordings.