Last Wednesday, I was privileged to have witnessed one of the more unique and enjoyable concerts I’ve been to in recent memory. It was a unique blend of the eerie retro-metal/heavy rock style of Blue Oyster Cult mixed with unabashedly Satanic imagery and themes.
The name of the group is Ghost and they’re one of the biggest buzz-generating bands out their right now. From James Hetfield of Metallica wearing their shirt onstage in Stockholm, to Phil Anselmo, formerly of Pantera fame, inviting a few members on stage with his band Down at a festival in Europe to Duff McKagan, ex-bassist of the Appetite-era Guns N’ Roses lineup, also publicly declaring his fandom of the band, the band is surging ina popularity after only releasing one full-length record in late 2010 to a largely underground audience.
So, who exactly is Ghost?
Well, nobody knows to be honest. The band is from Sweden and comprised of six members, five of whom are known only as “The Nameless Ghouls” who dress in black robes and cover their faces. The singer known as Papa Emeritus (it’s an open secret that he’s actually the front man of Swedish death metal band “Repugnant” but shhh!), takes on the guise of an evil looking Pope and their concerts give the impression of a ritualistic black mass than your average show.
Ghost were supposed to be the openers for the Enslaved/Alcest tour I previously reviewed on trippedmedia.com and it was quite disappointing when it turned out that, due to visa issues, they’d be unable to come so it was received quite well when they announced they’d be doing a thirteen date North American tour in January. A few shows have already sold out including the one that I saw at the Bowery Ballroom. The opening support was Ancient VVisdom, who I did not see but met at the merch table so I can at least say they’re cordial fellas, and Blood Ceremony. Blood Ceremony was a band I checked out on Spotify and honestly couldn’t get into at all. Their live performance on the other hand is a lot better than their studio albums would suggest and their enthusiasm was infectious. Ghost came out to the sounds of eerie Gregorian chanting and launched into an instrumental before Papa Emeritus took the stage swinging a thurible in full evil pope regalia. For such a young band, I really had to admire their stage show. The atmosphere was great and really brought the eeriness of their music. And normally I prefer crowd interaction from frontmen/women but I feel as though his character would have been undercut had he spoken to the audience too frequently. It was one of the highest energy shows I’ve ever seen and most of the energy was actually generated by the audience. Who can blame them though?
The criticisms of Ghost being theatrics over talent is completely unfounded. Their success is well-deserved and I’ll probably see them again when they tour with Mastodon and Opeth in the Spring. Give a listen to Ghost. It’s more fun than it seems.
As originally posted at trippedmedia.com