The notoriety of Ghost lies in the fact that they are so ridiculously catchy, a fact substantiated by their success and the sheer pleasure of listening to this band. Listening to Ghost is sinful and soulful at the same time. Their sound is smooth and creamy, and almost comforting to listen to. Ghost’s newest offering ‘Prequelle’ is just as Ghost as Ghost can get, simply speaking. Oddly, the band has always had a very mature sound and a solid sense of direction from the start. The new album is no less. One simply cannot expect Ghost to sound bad or fall short on direction. There is a sense of assertiveness in musical direction and maturity made ever more obvious with every new album.
‘Prequelle’ opens up with a short intro with “Ashes” that slowly set a dark mood before jumping right into “Rats”. “Rats” is a charismatic riff fest. The song highlights one of the best things about the band having very catchy and contagious chorus sections, which applies for the remainder of the album too. The attention of detail in this song is stunning. The interlocking between the drums, bass and vocals create a heavy and awesome vibe in the song. The drums really add strength to the vocals in the pre chorus and chorus sections. “Faith” seems to make a quick revisit to the older Ghost music with a lot more emphasis on guitar leads characterizing the song.
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“See The Light” is a joy to listen to. This song is an instant hit maker. There really isn’t anything about this song that is of bad taste. The vocal performances and lyrics are mesmerizing. If you haven’t heard a good instrumental song in a long time (or a new one at least), “Miasma” is the song for you. This song is full of rich and wonderful leads and heavy rhythmic sections. The synths really play a distinctive voice on this one as one would expect but the arrangement in the music make this song loveable. The sax section is adds a sense of human-ness where singing is absent. “Dance Macabre” is can put its listeners in an instant groove. There’s something about this band’s ability to resurrect the best aspects of music from the past and imbibe them into what they write and do best.
“Pro Memoria” is a memorable song. This probably one of the best Ghost songs currently, well it is at least one of my personal favorites from the discography. This song sounds very uplifting, comforting and satisfying. It feels like something straight out of a musical. This song is one of examples of a song being constituted by everything nice in music. It is perfection in other words. “Witch Image” is another catchy number from the band’s tempting offering. The heavy guitars and synths create a strong action drama like feel in the intro. This becomes the instrumental motif for the latter parts of the song and solidifies the song while adding strength to the vocal sections.
“Helvetesfonster” is another instrumental track on this album. The flute sections seem to create a replacement for singing, and continue to create a human aspect in this song. This song has some nice build ups that open up the song to deeper, richer, and emotional instrumental sections. The album ends with “Life Eternal”. This is a slower feeling song compared to the rest of the album. The mood and vibe of the song makes for an apt ending for the album.
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Ghost just keeps getting better and better with every new album. ‘Prequelle’ is a good reason to be alive the same time as Ghost. The thoroughly satisfying album weaved with countless musical expressions and all sorts of wonderful expectations one might have from a band. The dynamics of Ghost’s music is almost terrifying as much as it is profound and inspiring. The best part about Ghost is that the music is almost endlessly memorable. The take away from this album is that it is easy to remember and take these songs with you and hum them everywhere you go. This album is like a magnifying lens looking deep into the nuances of Ghost’s amazing potential and scale of things. Leave it to this band to continue writing albums that draw and invite wider audiences into its offerings in the guise of music, and leave its listeners longing for a lot more.
‘Prequelle” touches the soul. There is a strong aesthetic value to this album, something not seen in previous Ghost albums even though they are excellent albums as well. The lyrics create a strong sense of building bonds with the music, the feeling and the expressions that make this album and as well as the idea of Ghost. From the composition to the production, everything is articulate. I personally think it would be wrong of me to become a snob and start hating on it because, well, snobbery. I never expect a bad Ghost album and this album can be considered statistical proof that Ghost won’t be having a bad album anytime in the near future. If anything, ‘Prequelle’ might just open up bigger avenues for Ghost.