Album Review: Ghost - Prequelle

Somewhere along the way Ghost got less interesting. Who knows what it was - the legal dramas, the unfocused follow-ups to Opus Eponymous, the eye-rolling character changes and maybe even the ABBA cover - but really it just all got a bit naff.

Well - Prequelle will have the doubters jumping right back on the bandwagon. This album is nothing less than superb; maybe even better than the debut. Slick and melodic, it still rocks righteously, from the measured riffs of lead single Rats through the glorious stomp of Dance Macabre and two instrumentals (Miasma and Helvetesfonster) that somehow blend Rush and Deep Purple with an '80s album-orientated rock sensibility - including, at one point, a saxophone solo.

This scribe's favourite tracks, however, are the dark and sombre See The Light and the transcendent Life Eternal. Both of these tracks mix a melodic gentleness with symphonic muscle to scintillating effect. Main man Tobias Forge (let's cut out the Papa/Cardinal nonsense) again proves himself a compelling vocalist who can manipulate emotions with a simple shift in his voice and whose lyrics are delightfully subversive.

Some in the metal community might baulk at the commercial lunge Ghost make with this record, but these songs will bury themselves in your mind. Trust us, you'll have this one on repeat for months to come.