After two and a half years of touring with their Grammy spawning album, Meliora, Ghost is back with their 4th full length album Prequelle.
Up until this point, Ghost has always been a pretty hit or miss artist for most people but as someone who has been listening to the band for quite some time now, I genuinely believe that Prequelle is going to be the album that puts them in a whole new territory that appeals to the masses.
The album opens up with ‘Ashes’, the band’s haunting take on ‘Ring Around The Rosie’, which has been known to be associated with the Great Plague of London- the main theme of the album. Cryptic music plays as you faintly hear children recite the poem before the track dives into their lead single ‘Rats’. Surprisingly, as catchy as ‘Rats’ is, I found it to be one of the weaker tracks compared to the rest of the album.
One song that really stood out was ‘Faith’ as it was very heavy from start to finish. For all the fans who were looking for something that reminded them of the Opus era with a new twist, this song was definitely it. Another notable track was ‘See The Light’. Even though it’s a softer song, the delicate piano paired with Cardinal Copia’s powerful vocal range really packed a punch. From the first listen you can instantly pick up on the references to the plague, but with a chorus like “Everyday that you feed me with hate, I grow stronger” it leaves you wondering if ‘See The Light’ also serves as a personal nod to the lawsuit with the old band members. The album also offers two instrumental tracks, one of which is titled ‘Miasma’. The captivating piece beautifully layers vintage keyboards over the guitars before throwing you off with a saxophone solo at the end that fits the song surprisingly well.
‘Dance Macabre’ and ‘Witch Image’ are two songs that sound like nothing we’ve heard before from Ghost. Both songs sound very ambitious and could easily fit in as something you might have heard from KISS or Blondie but with Alice Cooper styled lyrics.
As a whole, this album sounds like something that should be playing through an arena. With all of its musical layers it takes a while to fully digest since there is so much going on within each track. All of the songs are pretty catchy, and what I enjoyed most about it was that the more times you listen to it, the more you pick up on the little gems you missed the first time around. When all is said and done, Prequelle is solid proof that Ghost has what it takes to play in the big leagues.
Songs to check out : Faith, Dance Macabre, Witch Image
Prequelle will be available June 1st via Loma Vista Recordings. Pre-order your copy here.
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Note : We had the pleasure of catching Ghost’s Rats On The Road Tour in Detroit, MI earlier this month. With a few weeks of the tour left, please do yourself a favour and check it out in a city near you, I feel like this is will one of the last chances to catch them in a smaller venue.
