♡GHOST♡

my FAVORITE BAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ghost is a Swedish band known for their Satanic imagery, unique sound, theatrics and over-the-top concerts, and running lore. Their music can be put into lots of different categories and varies greatly depending on the album, but it is generally described as heavy metal or rock, with recent songs taking on a more rock-pop or "evil ABBA" vibe.

Ghost currently has eight members. Seven of them wear near-identical masks and are referred to as the Nameless Ghouls. These members are responsible for playing various instruments, such as electric guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, ect. Fans have given each one names to distinguish them but I can never keep track of which is which lol

Ghost's eighth member is the frontman, vocalist, songwriter, and overall main dude of the band: Tobias Forge. However, he does not perform as himself; the band is fronted by what is basically an evil pope named Papa Emeritus. With each album, this pope is "killed" and replaced by his descendant, all of which are just Tobias in different masks. There's a pretty good video explaining Ghost, which has a line that puts it perfectly: "[Tobias] makes a living larping as his ocs and we just let him".

The basic premise behind the band is that it's supposed to be a Satanic Church taking over the world, with each album telling the next part in the story while also criticizing modern day Christianity and religious institustions, as well as other societal problems. Currently, Ghost has 6 albums and 4 EPs. Each album has its own unique sound, themes, and a new Papa Emeritus to go with it.

One important thing to understand is the concept of Satanism itself. The vast majority of Satanists are actually athiestic and take on the label to show their rebellion against the fact that Christianity is an extremely dominant relgion (in America, I can't speak for other countries) to the point that it influences laws, even though not everyone follows it. People also tend to get rubbed the wrong way by people who use Christianity specifically as a shield for their regressive and bigoted beliefs. Ghost as a theatrical group takes the concept, stigma, and Christian perception of Satanism to the max for satire, aesthetics, their storyline, and essentially to prove a point.

Opus Eponymous

their first album and quite possibly the greatest album released on planet earth

Opus Eponymous tells the story of the birth of Satan. It has 9 songs:

1. Deus Culpa
2. Con Clavi Con Dio
3. Ritual
4. Elizabeth
5. Stand By Him
6. Satan Prayer
7. Death Knell (my favorite!!!!)
8. Prime Mover
9. Genesis

It has very overt satanic themes and it feels so full of doom. A lot of the songs are about sacrifice and the coming of satan and what have you. Listening to it makes me feel like the end of the world is here and I am the one to bring it. I ADORE this album with my entire heart

Because this was their first album, there's not a whole lot of good concert footage. The frontman at the time was Papa Emeritus I. Go grandpa go

Infestissumam

spooookyyyyyy

Infestissumam is Ghost's second album, and is the one with the most direct satanic themes in my opinion. It's about rituals and devotion and the role that satan will play in the end of the world(?) or jsut however things will be moving forward. It has 10 songs:

1. Infestissumam
2. Per Aspera Ad Inferi
3. Secular Haze
4. Jiggolo Har Megiddo
5. Ghuleh/Zombie Queen
6. Year Zero
7. Body and Blood
8. Idolatrine
9. Depth of Satan's Eyes
10. Monstrance Clock

The last 5 tracks are my favorites on this album and I look forward to them every time I listen to it.

Papa Emeritus II was the frontman for this album, and for whatever reason he really did not like to wear his robes. I have a shirt with him and one time a coworker told me he was a demon and the cause of my nightmares. According to the lore, he was killed because he was such a shitty frontman that he didnt even topple any governments. wtf man. do better

Meliora

this ones pretty good. They actually had released an ep a little after this album, which then got added onto the deluxe version:

1. Spirit
2. From the Pinnacle to the Pit
3. Cirice
4. Spöksonat
5. He Is
6. Mummy Dust
7. Majesty
8. Devil Church
9. Absolution
10. Deus in Absentia
11. Square Hammer
12. Nocturnal Me
13. I Believe
14. Missionary Man
15. Bible

Papa Emeritus III was pretty cool. he had a hole in his shoe and liked to fall off the stage

If you have ghost

An older cover ep

1. If You Have Ghosts
2. I'm a Marionette
3. Crucified
4. Waiting for the Night
5. Secular Haze

PREQUELLE

introduction of THE RAT MAN!!!! This album is about mortality and the plague and such

1. Ashes
2. Rats
3. Faith
4. See the Light
5. Miasma
6. Dance Macabre
7. Pro Memoria
8. Witch Image
9. Helvetesfönster
10. Life Eternal

This is around the time I started getting into Ghost, and also marks the start of the little vids on youtube that really made The Lore a bigger part of Ghost than it had been before. Cardinal Copia, who would become Papa Emeritus IV in the next album cycle, was the focus. He is a funny rat man and everyone loves him.

He is pretty goofy in the lore, but the songs of this album have a very grim feeling to them as most of them have to do with death in one way or another.

Seven Inches of Satanic Panic

people kinda liked this one

1. Mary on a Cross
2. Kiss the Go-Goat

Impera

very cool very fun

1. Imperium
2. Kaiserion
3. Spillways
4. Call Me Little Sunshine
5. Hunter's Moon
6. Watcher in the Sky
7. Dominion
8. Twenties
9. Darkness at the Heart of my Love
10. Griftwood
11. Bite of Passage
12. Respite on the Spitalfields

i know a lot of people are torn on this one (once i had someone tell me that ghost needed to put out an apology for this album??? lol????) but i really like it! it's special to me. every ghost album sounds distinct from one another, so it's not really fair to judge this one based on that. This album has the feeling of a grand empire built on faith and trust but is greedy and deceptive.

Phantomime

cover songs that they did a really good job with

1. See no Evil
2. Hanging Around
3. Jesus He Knows Me
4. Phantom of the Opera
5. We Don't Need Another Hero

Skeleta

their latest album!!!!!!!!!!!

As of 4/21 (when I am writing this), there have been two songs released from this album, and they're both really good. The new frontman is Papa Emeritus V, who is Copia's twin brother (??) and Copia has been promoted/demoted to the head of the clergy.

As of 5/23 I have listened to the whole album and it's going to take me a bit to get used to as I am with all albums. I really love the 80s vibe they've got going on, and all of these songs sound gorgeous. My favorite is Satanized for sure

1. Peacefield
2. Lachryma
3. Satanized
4. Guiding Lights
5. De Profundis Borealis
6. Cenotaph
7. Missilia Amori
8. Marks of the Evil One
9. Umbra
10. Excelsis