Ghost are back with their 3rd studio Album, Melioria, and the cult of the mystery masked Swedish doom rockers have welcomed the 3rd singer to take the name Papa Emeritus, Papa Emiritus III. Papa Emeritus II was ‘fired’ for failing to overthrow governments and churches, and so has handed over the reign to his younger brother by 3 months. And whilst their fan base grows rapidly among rock and metals’ big names, the Ghouls of course remain nameless (although if recent rumours are true, such heavy hitters as Dave Grohl have taken a stint under the mask). But that is the point, you appreciate Ghost for who they are and the music and show they put on, not the names and personalities of the musicians.

I was already very impressed with their ability to carve a classification defying niche for themselves, and their ability to mix not just styles or rock and metal, but genres of music seamlessly and effectively. Anyone familiar with their first two offerings (Opus Eponymous, and Infestissumam) will already be aware of the outline premise of a satanic cult theme running through the music, with church organs mixing with hot guitar licks and early Sabbath feel doom riffs.  Melioria on this front does not disappoint, kicking things off with an eerie keyboard intro to Spirit, before the drums kick in to lead us into the first chugging heavy riff.

If you like your rock with a driving bass line, From the Pinnacle to the Pit heads up the next couple of songs including Cirice (the first song released from the album as a free download) which has all the face melting fuzz you could want in a riff.  A slightly lighter feel through the middle of the album from Spöksonat and He Is shows a more melodic side of the nameless ghouls, before Mummy Dust picks things up a couple of notches to set up a strong finish. Majesty has a particularly Tony Iommi feel to the riff, whilst Absolution, the penultimate song on the album particularly stands out as a potential fan favourite on next year’s summer festival circuit.