Impera

I have been a Ghost fan since they put out their second album Infestissumam and the following EP. I loved the dark tones, the Satanic themes and the tongue in cheek humour found between the layers. Unfortunately, that version of Ghost no longer exists. Like a lot of bands that find success, they have evolved into a self parody with less focus on making a great album and more on focusing on releasing cool T-shirts for the hipster crowd. There's always something to sacrifice for that kind of fame and for their 2022 album, it's the quality of production.If you've heard Ghost's back catalogue, you'll know that all of their albums have this wonderful production standard. The guitar have a beautiful warm tone when distorted or clean, the drums are well levelled and everything else sits in the mix exactly where it should. Well, the same can not be said for this album. It's an impressive mess of noise and by far the worst sounding album they have produced.The tone of the album is so wrong in many ways. The whole album is over cooked (brick walled) with really high treble frequencies. This causes a lot of the guitars to be drowned out by the drum cymbals, this immediately jumped out to me within the first minute. The ride cymbal was not only quite high in the mix but it had a shrill tinny sound that quickly becomes extremely irritating. It clearly over powers the actual drums as well as the guitars. Talking of the guitars, it sounds like there's no lower frequencies in there and it sounds very "light" compared to previous albums. I would guess that it's not just the shrill production that is the problem but that there has possibly been a change in brand to something with less power behind it.I could go into more of a rant about this but I won't. The simple fact is that if you own a good sound system, you'll notice that this album quite simply sounds terrible. I personally got through it by using iTunes (I still use an old fashioned iPod) and utilised the "lower treble" EQ option. That made a tremendous difference in the sound. Not only could I hear everything the guitar was playing, but it sounded like there was more separation, the drum cymbals were considerably quieter and it was all round a better experience. The problem lies in the fact that fans should not have to do these things.It's a shame too because quite frankly, I really enjoyed the music on Impera and that is why it still has a reasonably high score. The songs are very good and should satisfy the majority of Ghost fans. Kaisarion is catchy, so is Spillways and Call Me Little Sunshine has a great heavy rhythm. Watcher In The Sky and Twenties are suitably heavy. The final track, Respite on the Spitalfields has a great Def Leppard influence with a hint of 1987 Whitesnake without being too derivative.The musical performances themselves are on point. Tobias' voice holds up well with some of the most range he's done yet and it works well with the layers of backing vocals. The guitars have some tasty licks and excellent solos, a lot of some nice subtle stuff that gets buried in the god awful mix. This is a crying shame. The only thing I didn't like too much was the drumming. The drumming is solid and is perfectly fine for what the band needed, but these simple grooves need a certain swing to pull them off. You'll hear it in songs like Cirice and if it's a new member of the band, Tobias needs to get that person to watch some of Phil Rudd's work. The hi-hat and ride rhythms are so straight and boring, made worse by the fact it's so high in the mix.Ghost fans will like this album, especially those who don't care about how an album sounds. But it has been noted by other people online that the product is not good at all and I'll stand by that. I am genuinely shocked that we've had so many great sounding albums and then Tobias has put out something that sounds so bad so late in the band's career. It's a bit of a shame, the music is good and could have been so much more.

So I was a bit excited to receive the new Ghost album Impera yesterday. I have said before that not many new bands over the past couple of decades have got me excited, I find most new stuff bland and not a patch on the stuff it is trying emulate. Ghost are part of my short list of exciting, more modern bands, which consists of The Glorious Sons and fellow Swedes H.E.A.T. Much as with H.E.A.T. I was pretty late to the party with Ghost, I heard Square Hammer in a club in early 2018, started listening to a few tracks on You Tube then heard the wonderful Dance Macabre and was hooked. I have to say I love the 80's renaissance Tobias started on Prequelle and am over the moon he is upping that with Impera. I did of course backtrack and buy the older albums. I do thoroughly enjoy them but Ghost are now playing directly into my comfort zone. I know many original Ghost fans hate the current direction but it is inevitable that any band wants to grow and hey ho if the Devil wants to increase his followers he has to appeal to a wider audience eh?So I thought that after my second listen I would give you my initial thoughts of the album. Its purely about the sound and feel as I haven't had the chance to read and think about the lyrics, so I know only that the general theme is the rise and fall of empires. Before we start with my track by track thoughts I will reiterate what many other people are thinking. Is Tobias a bloody Seer? We got a plague with Prequelle and now the end of the world with Impera, life imitating art much?. Please Tobias, can the next album be about rainbows and unicorns? We have had a crappy enough couple of years without you forseeing anything else depressing! I have watched a couple of interesting recent interviews where he discusses the cyclical nature of history, thought provoking indeed, man never seems to learn from the mistakes of the past.Anyway here go my initial thoughts on the tracks.1) Imperium - an instrumental starts off slowly and builds to a marching drumbeat, are we marching full of hope to a new brighter future?2) Kaisarion - an absolute banger, power pop sounding song full of great melodic hooks. Starts off with a great 80's melodic rock scream and has an infectious guitar hook running through it. Plenty of crowd punching, fist pumping arena drum moments, some typical Ghost choir backing vocals, an anthemic chorus and even a little prog section. Tobias is throwing everything at us here. I can certainly see why it was chosen for the US tour.3) Spillways - it starts off initially reminding me of Bon Jovi with a bit of Foreigner in the keyboards. A definite Desmond Child feel throughout and lots of big Def Leppard 80's backing vocals in it. I could actually imagine being at Firefest with the whole crowd arms in the air, jumping up and down whilst singing along. Absolute AOR perfection. Definitely not one for the Ghost doom fans. Amazingly upbeat in spite of the lyrics not meant to be positive. Hey though the Devil has to have the best parties. A dancefloor classic in the making just like Dance Macabre maybe?4) Call Me Little Sunshine - back to more traditional Ghost here. When I first heard it as a single I was a little underwhelmed. In true Ghost style though the more you listen the more it builds and grows on you and burns into your soul. I definitely feel the confusion of the Industrial Revolution here. It starts off slowly maybe lamenting the changes and a feeling of being left behind by life and people. It picks up and the Devil starts making his appeal as it grows, he is burrowing into your soul and letting you know that while the world seems to be leaving you behind he is there for you. The song is insidious and infects you the more and more you listen. Again some more good crowd punching drums, can't wait to hear this live. Definitely seems like an interaction between band and followers moment. Oh and that bass through it ( I do love my driving bass).5) Hunters Moon - Yet again have the benefit of being more familar with this one as a single. Starts off with the campy, typical 80' horror movie theme vibe. Great chugging, life driving forward (maybe out of control and towards our doom) sound going on with a bit of yearning for something. A metal interlude with those Ghost choral vocals again. At one point there his a Still of The Night (just for Andrew Murray even a slight Ten feel)Definitely the most metal sounding track on the album.6) Watcher In The Sky - it starts off very dark, then quickly builds into a huge 80's melodic sound. A slight bit of Metallica and in the guitar and drum sounds at points in the verses. An absolutely huge chorus with (don't shoot me) a slight Duran Duran feel in the bridge into it. Quite a few shifts in tempo in this one and that feeling of marching on into the future (again almost against our will). Another one where I love the driving bass and again you again a track absolutely made to dance along to, yup once again those fist pumping drums during the guitar solo.7) Dominion another instrumental which gives us a break and a chance to reflect, almost invokes a feeling of Titanic blowing her horn and allows us to slow down before .........a bit of a WTF moment.😎 Twenties - So this is the track causing a great divide, most seem to love it or hate it. On first hearing I loathed this track. It is frenetic and confusing. Starting like a 20's movie theme then building into metal guitars and drums (very much Metallica/Slayer feel to an extent), then slows down again. Having heard it a few more times it does grow a bit, I have even found myself sitting at work humming the chorus in my head. It brings forth varied feelings, decadence, confusion. I guess a parallel that our current introductions into the 20's hasn't been that great eh? It works better in the context of the album theme as opposed to a single. I do wonder if I will grow to like it or if it is always going to be a bit of a WTF moment for me.9) Darkness At The Heart Of My Love - starts with a slight haunting Blue Oyster Cult vibe then builds into another huge 80's chorus full of longing. Theres even a bit of a Simon & Garfunkel/War of the Worlds feel at times10) Griftwood- starts off oh so Van Halen for the guitar sound and goes into those huge Def Leppards Yeah yeahs. In fact I think there is a bit of every 80's melodic band thrown into this one. Absolute hair metal perfection but withou those happy, party on and life to excess lyrics (although some baby's in there to keep us in that 80's lyrical vibe). A haunting piano sound towards the end where the pace drops a bit.11) Bite Of Passage - an instrumental which takes the mood down. Dark and haunting.12) Respite on The Spitalfields - More reflective and sombre then builds up to a menacing heavier break and then back to sombre. Again loving the bass in this one. An ending and a beginning, leading us up to thinking what is next ............. (please please unicorns and rainbows)I have to say this is an absolute monster of an album on only 2 listens.Looking forward to spending more time with it to hear more complexeties within it and to think more about the lyrics and themes ( I do find Tobias comes across as an intelligent and well read chap. In an odd kind of way to takes me to the The Buffy episode Once More With Feeling (bear with me on this train of thought). In that the demon was leading the people to their demise by them singing and dancing so frenetically that they burst into flames. Is Tobias and Ghost leading his followers to their doom by making us sing and dance way too enthusiastically with this last couple of albums? Although I do find this 80's upbeat sound conflicts with the albums dark theme. If Tobias continues in this musical direction we may be lauding him as the saviour of AOR. Think about it Ghost have the following to take melodic rock back to the masses!I do often wonder what is in the Swedish water, beer and vodka that creates these musicians who seem to create such melodic, infectious,catchy tunes so effortlessly?I applaud how much Tobias has grown Ghost over the years and given we are somewhat lacking modern, theatrical, campy bands, it is great that Ghost have that side too.I can't wait to attend my first Ghost live ritual In April. All I can say is Tobias just take my soul now, it is eternally yours!

Ghost have reliably produced some of the freshest and most tuneful rock / metal of recent times, but with Impera they have surpassed themselves.The songwriting and musicianship are impeccable, with each track distinct and full of character.In my opinion you’re going to have to go some way to beat this - a definite contender for album of the year, and sure to be remembered of as one of the classic records of the 2020s.

Als ich auf Ghost aufmerksam geworden bin, da waren sie schon deutlich mehr Richtung Mainstream unterwegs. "Meloria" war damals das aktuelle Album, doch ich mag alles von Ghost, vor allem gerade wegen der Vielfältigkeit. Die "Popestar" EP habe ich dann rauf und runter gehört und "Prequelle" war für mich mit dem eingängigen Retrosound der melodiösen Hard Rock Tage sogar das absolute Highlight.Nun bringt das Projekt mit Tobias Forge (jetzt: Papa Emeritus IV) als einzigem ständigen Mitglied ihr neues Album "Imperia" heraus. Stilistisch geht das Album wieder in die gleiche Richtung wie der Vorgänger, Fans von "Prequelle" werden auch dieses Album lieben. Eingängige Lieder stehen wieder im Vordergrund, vor 3 der 9 Songs gibt es noch kurze Instrumentaltracks, die eher Introcharakter haben.Den Ohrwurmcharakter bekommt man schon beim Opener "Kaisarion" zu spüren, der Auftakt mit den Synthies erinnert mich sogar an "Baba O'Reilly" von The Who. "Spillways" scheint ein Erbe der 80er Jahre zu sein, mit einprägsam klingenden Keyboards, das sich am Rhythmus beteiligt. Noch ausgefeilter wird es bei den Singles "Call me little sunshine" und "Hunters Moon". "Hunter's Moon" ist jedoch zudem eine Spur härter, ein richtiger Metal Kracher, der dennoch eingängig bleibt.Düsterer und Unheil verkündend klingt dann "Watcher in the sky". Ghost bleibt abwechslungsreich, auch wenn es bei "Imperia" nicht erneut einen krassen Stilbruch gibt. "Twenties" mit dem orchestralen Einstieg klingt toll, auch dieser Backgroundgesang wie aus einem Gruselfilm entsprungen. Das stelle ich mir bildlich in der Live-Show vor, wäre auch ein grandioser Alice Cooper Band Song gewesen. Ein kurzes, schönes Gitarrensolo gibt es ebenfalls. Eine emotional vorgetragene Powerballade darf auch nicht fehlen, "Darkness at the heart of my soul" heisst der sich immer weiter steigernde Song.Zum Finale gibt es dann noch ein richtiges Highlight, das komplexere "Respite on the spitalfields". Das es der übliche Aufbau für solche Songs ist, kann ich nicht verleugnen. Anfangs wie eine Ballade, irgendwann kreischt dann die Gitarre und der Song wird dynamischer und zugleich auch pompöser. Dennoch, innerhalb dieses typischen Konstrukts ist das alles so toll gemacht, sogar ein kurzes Drum-Solo gibt es zu hören."We will break away togetherI'll be the shadowYou'll be the lightNothing ever lasts foreverWe will go softlyInto the nightNothing ever lasts foreverWe will go softlyInto the night"Ein würdiger Abschluss, da bleibt nur ein Wehmutstropfen. Ein richtig geniales Instrumentalstück wie "Miasma" fehlt leider, ein instrumentaler Song, der sich über vier, fünf Minuten aufbaut."Impera" ist für mich daher wieder ein sehr gutes Album geworden, das leider nicht ganz an "Prequelle" heranreicht. Die Songs sind alle toll, als eingängige Rock Songs bleiben "Rats" und "Dance macabre" für mich jedoch unerreicht, höchstens "Twenties" reiht sich da noch ein. Auch ein längeres Instrumentalstück vermisse ich, jedoch ist das alles Jammern auf sehr hohem Niveau. Sag es mal ganz klar, wer von Ghost "Prequelle" bisher am meisten mochte, der muss dieses Album einfach haben.

"IMPERA" is the 5th album by Swedish rock/metal band Ghost. They have always been quite a hard band to pigeonhole. Many metal publications have listed Ghost very high up in end of year polls. For example, Loudwire put "Square Hammer" as best song of the decade in 2019. They have always dressed like a metal band in their outfits, but their music does lean to more rock territories. But this is not classic rock either. They seemed to have this operatic style, dramatic kind of rock which they have homed in over the years since their formation in 2006.While the first 3 albums did well for them, they seem to be a band on a steady upward trajectory and 4th album "Prequelle" helped this tremendously. This was my entry point to Ghost, and it was such a fulfilling album in every way. It felt like they took all their musical know how and stringed everything together perfectly to make one of the best albums of 2018. I don't often talk about every song on an album in a review, but I did for that one as really every song was a story worth talking about.The reason I have focused on their history so far, particularly "Prequelle" is because I'm trying to emphasise just how high a bar, Ghost set themselves for this album "IMPERA". Not just for themselves but fans eager to see to exactly if they could do it and to see for the band themselves. As the singles came out, one by one, it was clear that the standard was still mighty high. With "Hunter's Moon", "Call me little Sunshine" and "Twenties". "Twenties" in particularly had a WOW factor about it with a short brass section coming in like in a Lord of the rings scene where there is about to be a big battle. But all these songs are punchy, catchy and full of hooks. So needless to say, it set expectations even higher for the album.On my first few listens to the album, I kept thinking to myself, well this is just another Ghost album, it's not as good as "Prequelle" and nothing is better than "Square Hammer". But as I kept listening to it more and more, I kept unlocking more and more and realised it is a completely different album to "Prequelle”. For instance, "Prequelle" the average song length was 3-4 minutes with a few over 5 minutes. This has 5 songs over 5 minutes with a couple over 6. There are also 3 instrumental songs on this, first track "Imperium", "Dominion" and "Bite of Passage". These are all short tracks lasting 30 seconds to just over a minute. Rather than being interludes, I would say they are more set up tracks effortlessly gliding into the next track of the album. "Dominion" is a notable one as it comes before "Twenties" so has brass on it leading into the brass intro of "Twenties". There are no long instrumentals on this like the mesmerising "Misasma" from "Prequelle" but it seems more of conscious effort to make this album different.Generally, there is such a feel-good vibe running through this album. Singer Tobias Forge delivers vocals with such confidence and swagger signally a frontman at the very top of his game. The longer tracks on the album compliment the shorter tracks so well and allow the songs to really breathe and for other members to let loose. Especially through the guitar solos on "Griftwood" and closer "Respite of the Spitalfields". 2nd track "Kaisaron" is a classic too and I wouldn't be surprised if "Spillways" is the next single.Overall, this is another absolutely fantastic album by Ghost. They were already playing arenas in the "Prequelle" tour and with this album they look to fill them even more as the word keeps spreading just how good they are and how they continue to keep pushing themselves further.