Friday, October 28, 2016

Black metal meets Pop and Psychedelia


I've developed a fascination with a newish heavy metal band from Sweden called Ghost. Their lyrics are totally satanic and black metal but their music is more psychedelic and pop rather than a black metal style. They wear robes and stuff. The singer wears a pope-like outfit and he's called Papa Emeritus. The rest of the band wears masks and go under the names Nameless Ghouls. Pretty cool gimmick, eh?

This might seem silly and I assure you it is. But something about this band is amazing. Their lyrics are totally silly but their music is so catchy and infectious. Its almost like if the Beatles were a black metal band in 2016. They've made me realize that not every song or band has to be progressive or technical. All you need is some catchy riffs and lyrics and you've got yourself a song.

It took me a long time to realize that and this band has shown me that. That's why I think they're the best metal band I've heard in a long time. I bought their 2016 ep entitled Popestar. It features one original tune called Square Hammer and four cover songs originally by Echo and the Bunnymen, Simian Mobile Disco, Eurythmics, and Imperiet. Those are all fairly pop so you get the idea of where this band is going. Right to the top in terms of musical popularity. It seems like they've just been getting bigger and bigger in America. I could see them playing big ass festivals and stadiums like Metallica and Slayer sometime soon.

Popestar is a good ep and shows how great their covers are. On their first album they did a brilliant rendition of the Beatles' Here comes the sun. Their cover is pretty darn good. That entire first album is great. It's everything a good rock album should be. Even if this band has a strong black metal vibe in terms of their lyrics, the music is classic rock and roll. That's what I like about them.

Its cool that I got into them just in time for Halloween. They're definitely a Halloween sorta band with their elaborate stage shows and costumes. You should check them out on YouTube. Listen to the first album Opus Eponymous and Popestar if you wanna hear what got them their Grammy this year.

Classic stuff. The Nameless Ghouls play a mean guitar too. I also love how they have keyboards. Reminds me of the Crazy World of Arthur Brown and my young progressive rock days.

Killer. 

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