Songs You May Have Missed #708

14 Aug 2021 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: ,

Ghost: “Life Eternal” (2018)

Sweden’s Ghost inhabit–haunt, really–a world of their own on the musical landscape. Inspired by Alice Cooper’s sense of the theatrical, Opeth’s dark vibe, Dio and BOC’s riffs, and ABBA’s songwriting, Ghost create their own uniquely creepy stew of something I want to call Halloween Rock.

The final track of 2018’s Prequelle LP is a ballad, and stands alone as such, even if a listen to what precedes it–a bombastic metal conceptual album revolving around Europe’s black plague–lends it some dark undertones.

The bell tolls and pipe organ don’t hurt, either.

Ghost’s best work is dark, twisted and creepy. But also beautiful, inspired and thrilling.

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2019/11/23/songs-you-may-have-missed-644/

Songs You May Have Missed #644

23 Nov 2019 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: ,

Ghost: “Square Hammer” (2016)

Are you one of those who opine that rock is dead, and the visceral thrill of the genre has faded with the hair on the head of your favorite Rock Hall-enshrined dinosaurs?

Maybe you just need to look a little more earnestly.

Although this certainly isn’t 1975 and the pop landscape isn’t crowded with acts like Queen, Led Zeppelin and Grand Funk, there is still music being created that can make the hair stand up on your arms.

For example, that of Sweden’s masked melodic metallers Ghost.

Though their occult music videos may go further than fans of Alice Cooper and Blue Oyster Cult may be comfortable with, Ghost’s brand of macabre, melodic rock may strike the right note. From the insistent organ riff to the two-beat timpani accent accompanying the verse’s lyric to a harmony-stacked chorus you may have stuck in your head for days, the hooks abound on “Square Hammer”.

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2021/08/14/songs-you-may-have-missed-708/

PHOTO COPYRIGHT JOHN McMURTRIE 2015