This must be the first doom metal album that I really enjoyed since…well…“Sabotage”. As you can easily reckon, I am not the biggest fan of the genre. But then again, “Opus Eponymous” is not a pure doom metal album. Ghost belongs to a different league…I found about them quite by chance, I must say. I was watching an interview that James Hetfield was giving to a Swedish TV station and wore a t-shirt that reminded me something of the famous Hammer Horror Studios (the studios that dripped blood, that is…) and bore the logo of…you got that right: Ghost!
I searched YouTube for videos by the band and…here comes the shock! The guys not only are musically excellent but their overall stage presence is absolutely imposing and eye-catching. 5 musicians dressed as monks with the whole cloth regalia and a singer/cardinal with a skeleton mask, reverted crosses…well, you get the picture. Lyrics deep into the mystic and dark realm and as for the music…just imagine a heavy Sabbath-esque atmosphere, a Blue Oyster Cult-esque mood with the vocal melody lines, a slight flirt with Blue Cheer and all in all a retro feeling with a good shot of beautiful melodies. You should definitely check them out! Ideal, also, for the fans of the old school horror aesthetic…
Highlight: Phil Anselmo declares his admiration for Ghost thus raising Ghost even more in the music stock market.
