Ghost – "Impera"

Rise of an empire

What turned me off up front was the extremely polished sound and the shameless pop melodies. But curiously, those are also somehow what drew me back in.

I'm hearing a lot of all-round musicality in Ghost that I didn't notice up front those 12 years ago. "Kaiserion" goes into full-blown Dream Theater mode after the second chorus, and the bridge melody reminds me of its counterpart in "Blackest Eyes" by Porcupine Tree. So yeah, I'm hooked.

Likewise, some of the chord progression in "Darkness at the Heart of My Love" sound a lot like this little tune called "November Rain". And the C-part in the ending track, "Respite on the Spitalfields", features a background theme that's basically a guitar copying the string theme from its counterpart in Whitesnake's "Still of the Night".

So yeah, this whole copying thing does become an issue. The opening riff and all-round guitar work in "Griftwood" is an obvious ripoff (or loan or whatever euphemism suits you) of Van Halen's "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love", right down to the tone. This is the only song that loses me, by the way, as the chorus is pretty much a Backstreet Boys melody. I love a good tune as much as the next guy, but being a straight man, I have my limits. Also, fuck you if you can't take that joke.

The reason I'm hooked on "Impera" is the heaviness and musical flair. Tobias Forge has a uniquely creative way of writing rock music and balancing the hard, the melancholic, and the catchy.

The reason I'm still hooked on all the other tracks, though, is the aforementioned heaviness and musical flair. Tobias Forge has a uniquely creative way of writing rock music and balancing the hard, the melancholic, and the catchy. For example, the single "Call Me Little Sunshine" is slow doom rock with an empty, bleak Katatonia-esque soundscape – but also a bridge and chorus as infectious as they're stadium-sized.

Likewise, the heaviest track, "Watcher in the Sky", goes from a tight, chugging, almost tango-like 1-2 rhythm to a chorus that might as well have been featured on any classic Scorpions or Magnum record. And I have to mention the stand-out track "Twenties", which, with its cinematic intro, theatrical vocals, sarcastic lyrics, and uncanny, jagged dancehall rhythm made me type "horrorshow hard rock" in my note document.

"Spillways", right from its classic-rock-sounding piano intro, sounds like it could have been written by Supertramp or Foreigner. So these are some relatively lightweight sources of inspiration for a band that's supposedly this dark and popular with metalheads. And the chorus, like several others, is pure, shameless Eurovision. But in all fairness, let's not forget that Ghost hails from the same country that gave us such groups as ABBA, Roxette, Ace of Base, and In Flames.

In all fairness, let's not forget that Ghost hails from the same country that gave us ABBA, Roxette, Ace of Base, and In Flames.

So I'm guessing a lot of former fans will have left Ghost by the wayside at this point. But here's the thing, people...

It's music. And at that, it's inspired, memorable, well-played, masterfully produced, and all-round convincing music. Whether you like it or not.

I'm probably not gonna be following Ghost much closer since there's still so much other music that demands my attention. But on the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised if I found myself diving into their back catalogue anyway in the foreseeable future. And in any case, my respect and interest for them just increased by a considerable amount.

Rating: 4.5 out of 6

Genre: Pop rock / heavy metal
Release date: 11/3/2022
Label: Loma Vista
Producer: Klas Åhlund