Blasphemy! Heresy! Ghost herald’s new era with occult track ‘Satanized’
Swedish hard rock outfit give up their priestly vows in lead single from upcoming album ‘Skeletá’.
Photo: Press
Three years on from their global breakthrough album, Impera, Swedish metal giants Ghost are back with a new track, a new album, and a new look. Under the guise of Papa V Perpetua, singer-songwriter Tobias Forge unveils the macabrely polished Satanized – echoing the group’s early days, and ushering in the age of Skeletá.
Ghost’s latest offering is a clever one; hard and occultish enough to slake the hunger from diehard, Opus Eponymous fans, while staying on the right line of catchy, poppy and ‘80s – the natural progression from Impera and Phantomime (its opening riff sounds more than a little like the band’s cover of Iron Maiden’s Phantom of the Opera).
There’s Satanic Latin chanting, Manowar-esque drumbeats and panicking priests in the accompanying music video – which also gives us the first look at ‘new’ frontman, Papa V Perpetua – it’s Ghost in its purest form, and one of the catchiest tunes offered up yet. The chorus is cheesy (Is ‘Satanized’ even a word?), the lyrics dark and corruptive, and a coffin hammer-like backbeat.
While it’s far from the sludgy doom of the group’s heaviest tracks (Con Clavi Con Dio, Mummy Dust), the hard rock anthem remains a worthy taste of what will be their sixth full-length release, which has long been teased as returning to Ghost’s darker, heavier roots. Whatever Tobias Forge has in store for us, it will no doubt continue to delight and defy in a way only this masked act can achieve.
Satanized is out now on all streaming platforms. It is the lead single from Ghost’s sixth album, Skeletá, which can be pre-ordered here.