Ghost - 'Meliora' Hot

This album is certainly a progression on their previous recordings, and the band in turn gets stronger as it progresses.

This one came straight out of the blue as I didn't know that Ghost were about to release a new album. I like Ghost, having first come across them at Download a couple of years ago and, liking what I heard as well as what I saw, I then went out and bought, yes bought, their albums. I know it's all a bit "Devil worshipry", but the music is usually very good and this (of course) makes up for it. 'Meliora' is, like the previous two, very good and it would be fair to say that actually this is even better than.

Starting off with some spooky stuff, this soon ends by getting blown away by some serious drumming from... whoever it is playing them. As we all know, none of us know who the band members are (the musicians are simply referred to as "nameless ghouls"), which all adds to their mystique of course. 'Spirit' is a good strong opening track, which sets you up for the rest of the album.

'From The Pinnacle To The Pit' starts with a thunderous bass riff, and Ghost's vocalist (who is simply referred to as Papa Emeritus III) reminds me very much of Alice Cooper on this track. It also has some very good synth lines and atmospheric choir in the mix. 'Cirice' has a chorus that doesn't do what you expect when you first hear it, but once you get used to it it's very easy on the ear.

'He Is' is a song to worship "the wrong person" but it is fantastic musically, with a brilliant melody and really accomplished guitar and keyboards. It also starts with a little sequence that you can't get out of you head when you've heard it. 'Mummy Dust' is probably my least favourite, just because of the subject matter (speaks for itself), but once again, the music is there with the band playing the heaviest riffs on the album, with Emeritus III singing like Lemmy Kilmister from Motörhead.

'Majesty' is a real stomper that Judas Priest would be proud of and 'Absolution' is shooting in the same area but with a little less intensity. 'Deus In Absentia' has an excellent middle eight tucked away inside and some glorious male choir at the end, but I don't know if this is the band themselves or someone else they have drafted in. I would like to think it was the band.

This latest album is a certainly a progression on their previous recordings, and the band in turn gets stronger as it progresses. I look forward to hearing these tracks live.

Andy Brailsford