I propose a new International Law: Have a damned good reason for not naming your band members if it’s a side project. If the reason is you think it will detract from the credibility of the day job then don't do the side project! If there is another reason then at least let us know it or make it fun to read. Now I'm not saying this is the reason in this case of the (quite amusingly titled) 'Opus Eponymous' from Ghost but they must know that you can't keep a secret in the Internet age and if you were quick enough you would have seen the names listed on Metal-Archives before they were removed.
Still I shall respect their wishes.
The album starts off promisingly enough; Deus Culpa, the organ intro, sounding more doom than some of the other 'occult rock' bands riding the 70s/Occult Rock wave
Next 'Con Clavi Con Dio' adds a big thump more metal in the mill which is nice and the production is nicely clear, too and the song pleasant enough as a stall setter.
'Ritual' throws in some very Blue Oyster Cult style backing vocals which swell the chorus nicely (and if you have always dismissed Blue Oyster Cult but like this whole Seventies style occult rock thing, just check out Secret Treaties or Tyranny and Mutation) but the song doesn't really go anywhere apart from this choral high spot.
You can easily see why guitarists like this sub-genre though; it gives them the chance to play all those lovely, looping melody leads and pick pure notes out of the fuzzed out riffs and Ghost are no exception to this. But its bits, always bits here, passages there, never the full song.
The album is generally mid paced and nicely presented, the sound of Ghost being a curiously open sound despite the fuzz and the doom, but the songs failing to really grab attention when it matters.
The previous single, Elizabeth, is kind of like Merciful Fate's 'Melissa' without the screaming metal if that makes any sense on paper. Even the lyrics share a certain resonance with that song, though being about the obligatory Countess Bathory as far as I can tell. It is probably the best song so far, too.
'Stand By Him' kicks in a Devil's Blood style bass stomp which is sweet but the songs is just a little weak to follow the line that the bass presents.
There is also something lacking in the vocals too: I'm not saying they are bad because they aren't (indeed there is nothing remotely bad about any of this album) and the gentleman can certainly carry a tune; just that they seem a little bland in delivery. There is none of the sound of either a doped out, entranced cultist mid-worship or the more unhinged vocals that I feel this kind of music warrants and you could find in such 70s acts as Coven or Black Widow or even early Sabbath themselves, or in newer bands like the defunct Sevenchurch or the exemplary Griftegarde.
By this time I really have lost my connection with the album I'm afraid. All the ingredients are here: the right label, the well constructed sound of the band with everyone knowing their place, the very 70s cover art and the lyrical slant... but. But. I just can't work up enthusiasm for it. Whereas the Devils Blood have such a fierce and frightening intent which burns through every song that they make you believe, and Jex Thoth might add a weird, spaced out cultishness to the sound, Ghost sound like a side project. A "Hey, I have a fun idea" recording rather than a band of intent and the album doesn't so much flow as simple stroll from beginning to end.
And then comes the instrumental closer 'Genesis' to mess with me. Suddenly I'm jerked back into awareness. I play it again to make sure. Yes. It is TERRIFIC; sweet, dark, mournful and classically hummable dark rock.
Go figure. It must be me. If the whole album had been like this then... oh, no point. It is what it is. Not bad by any stretch, and I think many will find it sweet enough but it is disappointingly failing to inspire me. I just can't see it making that big a splash I'm afraid.
But do bear in mind a gentleman by the name of Fenriz would beg to differ which kind of puts my opinion into perspective...!
http://www.myspace.com/thebandghost
