10 Years of Opus Eponymous
All of us at Hellfire are huge fans of Ghost. So when we found out that today was the tenth anniversary of when our favorite Swedish rock band's first album came out, we knew we had to write about it.
The album starts off with a piece that sounds like it's played on an electric organ, and it sounds very melancholy and wouldn't sound out of place being played at a funeral. This short piece, "Deus Culpa", fades out to the into of "Con Clave Con Dio", which builds kind of an air of mysteriousness.
"Con Clave" begins with the name Lucifer being creepily wailed in a way that only Tobias Forge can do. This song has some great riffs, and it is a great way to introduce the band and make it known that they appreciate and revel in the darker side of life.
After "Con Clave" is "Ritual", which is a song that ever Ghost fan knows. As far as my experience with the band goes, I'm pretty sure "Ritual" is the most well known song off this album. It's one of the catchier songs also, which I think definitely contributes to its' fame. This is something I've noticed. If a song is catchy, it gets big, and it is no exception with a satanic rock band. This song also introduces the word "nema", which obviously is amen backwards. It since has been used in a few songs and the fans all use it enthusiastically.
Then we get "Elizabeth", which is another one that is more popular among Ghost fans. The guitar solo features some really interesting distortion which really gives it a creep factor. It's a great song.
After that is "Stand by Him" which is what I feel is a bit of a hidden gem sandwiched between better recognized songs. It's also one of my personal favorites. It's a much more melodic song, with more drawn out and softly sung notes. It might not be as exciting as some of the others, but not all good songs have to be.
The next two songs, "Satan Prayer" and "Death Knell" are back to more of the same, slightly more upbeat songs. Don't get me wrong, they're good songs. But I feel like they kind of aren't super memorable and sound like more of the same stuff.
Then we get "Prime Mover", which is another hidden gem. It's a mostly instrumental piece with some softly sung lines and ominous whispered vocals. It's a great song which doesn't get much attention. It's really cool and I love it.
After that is "Genesis" which is a completely instrumental piece that starts about the same as the previous song, but goes into what sounds like the goth version of mariachi guitar music. It's really quite beautiful.
The last track is a hauntingly wonderful cover of "Here Comes the Sun" by The Beatles. It stays true to the source material. but warps it into a dark lullaby. I absolutely love this song. It's so well done.
Final thoughts are that while this album doesn't have a lot of their more frequently live played or popular songs, it's a quality album, and a great start for Ghost. They've since refined their sound and gotten even better. They recently announced that they are releasing a new album this winter, and all of us can't wait to hear what they're going to come out with. ~Gangis
