It seems a bit ambiguous that Ghost has launched a new LP during the papal interregnum, especially since the theme of the album seems to touch on eternity and life after death. Many are talking about the next successor to Franciscus, but for me the successor to the previous album Impera from 2022 was also a big question mark. Impera was a gem of an album (again), in which the band stepped a bit more towards the softer genre. Very different from the first albums, much more accessible and commercial.
The gimmick and the saga continue with Papa V Perpetua and with the new album Skeletá. Through the years I have learned that you should not immediately reject a Ghost album after the first listen, so this album has been playing around for a while and it grows every time. It seems to be a bit softer than its predecessor at certain points. Swinging guitars, sometimes somewhat weak synths and poppy rock parts, but somehow this band actually manages to get away with it on all tracks. Maybe because they did thinkt to mix with the past.
Well, there are always fillers, but you can’t deny that a lot of thought has been given to these hits, both musically and thematically and in terms of lyrics. Peacefield is a quiet opener, but the song also contains that typical swinging power that can also be found on the previous album. You feel that it will also simply be the opener live and that it will immediately loosen up everyone. Lachryma starts with louder guitars and even reminds me a bit of the times of Meliora, but then suddenly that airy chorus brings you back to the here and now. Somehow it still hits home hard, especially if you make such a typical clip for it.
That also applies to Satanized, although the approach is different. Doom pop with lyrics that you’ll be playing around with in your head from the second time you play it. Ghost remains the master in cutting up Satanism and upgrading the distrust in every form of religious dogma and does so, as always, with the necessary creativity, perhaps even a bit too much on Missilia Amori: “A man of faith is hard to find. You showed me yours, I’ll show you my love rockets”. The double meaning in the lyrics is ‘as clear as day’. In line with the whole skeleton thing, I think the lyrics of closing track Excelsis and the resting point Guiding Lights are brilliant and they are also just beautiful songs that will hopefully creep into the setlist.
Finally, an extra mention for what I consider the musical highlight of Skeletá: Umbra. Wonderfully melodic and swinging 80’s hard rock with a chorus that is truly Ghost through and through. The synth waves and guitar lines dive back into the psychedelic 70’s halfway through and by doing that show that this band also continues to explore new regions instrumentally.
Ghost might be one of the only bands that can turn a 6.5 into an 8.5 if you don’t drop out after the first listen. Each musical composition grows, the textual lump falls and mix, also on Skeletá, into a record that has both depth and nostalgic swing power. If Satan existed, he would undoubtedly be a fan of Ghost.
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