I talked about this at length on one of our review podacsts, but my history with Ghost has been a turbid one. From initially being perplexed by the sudden success of their retro-occult rock styles, through increasing interest with each release and things finally starting to click with me via the increased bassiness and energy of the Ceremony and Devotion live album (2017), until they finally won me over with “Square Hammer” and Prequelle finally won me over and Impera became one of my favourite albums of the last decade. It is with some trepidation then, that I greeted the news that this era’s uncharacteristically uninterrupted frontman “Papa Emeritus IV” (prev. “Cardinal Copia”, now “Frater Imperator”, actually Tobias Forge) would be stepping aside/promoted, and that a new persona, “Papa V Perpetua”, would be taking his place. Indeed, my initial experience(s) with Skeltá were extremely disappointing, to say the least.
Even at the height of my fandom, however, it wasn’t always smooth sailing. I was initially very unsure about Impera, and even actively hostile towards some of its singles and the over-the-top opening of “Kaiserion”. It had its hooks in me though, and I found myself going back to it, over and over again until—with a little re-wiring that I won’t go into here (again, see the podcast)*—it’s become one of my favourite modern metal albums, and “Twenties” has become one of my favourite tracks (jury’s still out on “Kaisarion” though). During this time, they also happened to become the biggest modern metal band on the planet, by quite some distance. So it was that, despite the dullness and distaste endured during my early experiences, I persevered and am now coming to you with some distance from its initial release, and my initial shock to boldly proclaim that, with time and persistence, I have found that… I dislike this album even more.
As anticipated, Skeletá signals a significant shift in Ghost’s sound. On one hand, it's a continuation toward a more pop and 80s-influenced sound. On the other—and much more significant—hand, it feels like a throwback to the band’s earlier, less metallic beginnings. This is the first Ghost album since Opus Eponymous (2010) to be produced by Tobias Forge himself (as “Gene Walker”), along with legendary mixer Andy Wallace (Sepultura, Slayer, Nirvana, all the best rock and metal albums from the 90s and a lot of dodgy ones from the 2000s) who’s worked with them since Meliora (2015). Suitably, the record sounds a lot more subdued in comparison to the Cardinal Copia era, the guitar tones are less distorted and thick, and the overall mix is much more spacious—perhaps in an attempt to recapture some of the retro appeal of unlikely TikTok super hit “Mary on a Cross”. Yet, while this more restrained style might appeal to some of the band’s earlier fans, whose interest has perhaps waned during the bands stadium rock era, it also clashes frustratingly with the updated 80s aesthetic.
Although the presence of Opeth axe master Fredrik Åkesson is still felt via his various shreddings, his and the other members’ energy and contributions are further stifled by a frustratingly imbalanced mix. As much as I appreciate the bass-forward nature of Skeletá’s production, the guitars end up being buried below its surface, meaning much of their inherent vitality and dynamism ends up being squandered. The tone has also been dialed back considerably, perhaps to fit with the unfulfilled pop-80s aesthetic, and I suspect a lot of these songs could be greatly enhanced by simply Zakk Wylde/Randy Rhodes-ing (or at least Jake E. Lee-ing) the guitars up by at least 30%. The punch provided by keyboardist Salem Al Fakir who has worked with the likes of Madonna, Lady Gaga, Avicii and Ghost themselves since Prequelle, is all but absent, even while his synth work saturates the album.
Moreover, while Prequelle and Impera were abundant with “references” to 80s rock and hair metal—these were also usually brief, knowing nods—such as the shout outs to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” in “Miasma”, or Europe’s “Final Countdown” in “Respite On The Spitalfields”—or at least invoked a style of music (i.e. hair metal) that has largely fallen away from the mainstream—such as the repurposing of Van Halen’s “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” for “Griftwood”, or Whitesnake’s “Still of the Night” for the middle section of “Spitalfields” (again)—and therefore felt refreshing in their reintroduction. Maybe it's just a matter of tase, but the pop rock reference points touched on here (e.g. Tears for Fears, Journey; see below) feel a lot more ubiquitous and less inspired. There are also a lot of moments throughout the record where Ghost seem to be ripping-off themselves, or at least retreading some seriously similar ground, such as the very “Absolution”-esque riff of “Lachryma” or the drum fill from the start of “Twenties” that I’m sure shows up in there somewhere.
All of these issues are accentuated by some seriously awkward sequencing, with the album often jack-knifing in tone, or else letting it linger too long in monotony. “Peacefields” is one of the stronger tracks on the album, but it’s still an underwhelming opener. The chorus rhythm is also clearly lifter from Journey’s “Separate Ways”, and listening to the two tracks together only further exposes how much energy even this album’s better offerings lack by comparison. As does sthe fact that it’s followed by the one song on the album that does have a bit of a kick to it. “Lacryma” is by far the best song on the album, even if that’s only because it sounds like an Impera leftover, would definitely be among that album’s weaker numbers and is in desperate need of a pinch-harmonic or few.** Surprisingly, the actual Impera leftover on the album is lead-single “Satanised”, which perhaps feels the most like a throwback to Opus Eponymous and Infestissumam. Its idiosyncratic, skeletal riff is intriguing, but is oddly paired with the bass line from Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” (/Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop”) and is severely lacking in passion for a song that draws parallels between love and demonic possession.
Toward the end of the album, we get three of the album’s stronger tracks in a row. Yet, again, all off them feel frustratingly subdued. “Cenotaph” starts of by blending some spooky, 80s’ keyboards with the oft-imitated riff from Black Sabbath’s “Children of the Grave”. It’s a successful combination and one that perhaps would have made for a good (or at least better) album-opener, but it never really goes anywhere and when the keys suddenly erupt into a Van Halen-esque tapping flurry, they still fail to provide any real lift off— similar to when “Guiding Lights” nabs the build-up from Metallica’s “Bleeding Me”, only to have the lead guitars come in quieter than everything else. “Missillia Amori” is a Def Leppard-inspired “stripper-pole” anthem. Yet, while its stomping riff and “love rockets” being suggestively shot “right in-between your eyes[/ass]” fit the [singe-dollar] bill, the guitars are mixed far too low to have any real impact, and the song is so ploddy that it’s hard to imagine a dancer doing anything other than fall asleep to it. The later “Umbra”, on the other hand, has the kind of pace and swing to it that would make an excellent backdrop to a naughty nun number, or—if satanic S&M is more your thing—there’s “Marks of the Evil One”, which would have also made for an excellent closer, leaving the album on an uncharacteristically animated and suitably apocalyptic note.
Skeletá still isn’t finished though, unfortunately—even if feels like it’s been going on forever (much like this review!). No, instead, the album rounds out with the oddly placed “Umbra” and one of its most tiresome tracks in “Excelsis”—a dreary "encore / credits" song that which comes across like an even duller take on Rite Here Rite Now’s already underwhelming “Future is a Foreign Land” and, at six monotonous minutes, drags on at least twice as long as it should. Sandwitched between these uneven bookends is an extremely saggy middle section. “Guiding Lights” is the type of mugging rock-ballad that Ghost should be able to write in their sleep at this point. It shouldn’t sound like they did though, and the song—like all of Skeletá’s songs—significantly under-delivers, especially in comparison to past triumphs like the haunting “He Is” and the bombastic drama of “Darkness at the Heart of My Love”. The lethargy invoked by “Guiding Lights” is only compounded by “De Profundis Borealis”, which attempts to bring the energy back up, but fails due to its overlong piano intro, and ends up being entirely forgettable in its subdued mash-up of “Miasma” and “Kaisarion”.
There are tracks here, like “Lachryma”, “Missilia Amori” and even “Peacefield” that I suspect will shine brighter in the live setting, where the guitars are more present and the energy more palpable. Here, however, they are stifled by being part of an album that suffers from inconsistent energy and a buried guitar mix. As odd as an album as Skeletá is, its reference points are also basic, leaving the band lacking both the mystique of the early years and the majesty of their more recent incarnation(s). The idea of “Ghost goes 80s power pop” is an appealing one, and one which follows logically from their previous 70s-occult-rock-cum-80s-arena-metal trajectory, but that’s not what they’ve done here. The retro aesthetic and overly polished pop sheen off the albums production are constantly at war with one another, and the songwriting comes across as both mess and undeveloped in equal measure. There’s potential here, and Ghost remain much more interesting and individualistic than any other act their size. It is said (with good reason) that the bigger they are, the harder they fall, however—which only make Skeletá feel more devastatingly disappointing, even as it remains, undeniably and uniquely Ghost.***
*“Dominion”, “Twenties”, “Griftwood”, “Call Me Little Sunshine”, “Watcher in the Sky”, “Imperium”, “Kaisarion”, “Hunter’s Moon”, “Spillways”, “Bite of Passage”, “Respite on the Spitalfields”, “Darkness at the Heart of My Love”—for those that are interested.
**I’d take it over “Hunter’s Moon” and “Kaisarion”, but that’s it.
***Catch me in 6–7 months telling you why this is the best metal album of the year tho, actually…