Ghost Haunt The Masses With The New Album IMPERA

Posted on March 16, 2022 by chrishammond54 in CD Reviews // 0 Comments

Review of Physical CD by: Chris Hammond

Ghost – Impera (2022)
Label: Loma Vista Recordings
Style: Heavy Metal/Rock

Tracklist

Imperium 01:40
	2.	Kaisarion 05:02
	3.	Spillways 03:16
	4.	Call Me Little Sunshine 04:44
	5.	Hunter’s Moon 03:16
	6.	Watcher In The Sky 05:48
	7.	Dominion 01:22
	8.	Twenties 03:46 video
	9.	Darkness At The Heart Of My Love 04:58
	10.	Griftwood 05:16
	11.	Bite Of Passage 00:31
	12.	Respite On The Spitalfields 06:42

Ghost is a heavy metal band that is on a constant image transformation. The band is the brainchild of Vocalist Tobias Forge. Forge plays the role of bandleader and takes on the persona of:

Papa Emeritus – vocals performance (2010–2012)
Papa Emeritus II – vocals performance (2012–2015)
Papa Emeritus III – vocals performance (2015–2017)
Cardinal Copia – vocals performance (2018–2020)
Papa Emeritus IV – vocals performance (2020–present)

The members of Ghost impersonate the Roman Catholic Church but in a role reversal, they worship Satan instead of the Holy Trinity The stage show is a performance that must be seen in person to truly enjoy (I personally saw them open for Iron Maiden a couple of years ago and was thoroughly impressed).

Their music is a haunting collection of powerful hard rock with dashes of pop and is connected to many genres including heavy metal, theatre rock, doom metal and so on. The best way to describe them is a musical collection of heavy metal riffs with haunting vocal choruses, a musically-talented band that never disappoints its fans.

The new album Impera is full of different genre-bending music that will please countless fans’ ears for many years to come. Forge stated that the Impera album would be based on “the rise and fall of empires“. Impera can best be described as the heavy metal version of Bon Jovi’s classic “Slippery when wet album. It is full of catchy tunes that are also radio-friendly and bound to get airplay indefinitely.

The songs “Kaisarion” and “Spillways” are full of keyboards, sing-along lyrics and insanely groovy musicality. “Call Me Little Sunshine” has that wow factor. The song is one that is so well-crafted that it is on course to be the breakout song from this album.

“Hunter’s Moon”, which was first heard in the Halloween Kills film that was out in 2021 really showcases a heavier side of Ghost. It oozes rock swagger and is one song that will make fans erupt in concert. The final two heavier-sounding songs on the album are “Watcher in the Sky” and “Twenties”. Both have a seventies sound with the latter being more of a war-marching groove.

Now onto the slower ballad song on the album. “Darkness in my Heart”. This could be one of the hidden gems from the Impera album. It truly is a pop hit (I know this isn’t a heavy song) and just might be the sleeper hit in this collection of outstanding material. It shows a different vocal style for Tobias and also incorporates acoustic guitar, but don’t worry it still gets plugged in near the middle of the song. The tempo is something more subdued for the band.

The album also includes a trio of instrumental songs which are short and gloomy. These don’t stick in the brain as well as the other material but are still welcome inclusions on Impera. The last song on the album “Respite On The Spitalfields” is a great way to end on. It has a pop feel but also hits hard on the chorus, very reminiscent of elements of the song “Rats”.

Ghost is a band that evolves with every album release, they not only shed their image but band singer-personas with each new release. They dwell in a genre of their own and are fearless create songs that will stand the test of time. With Impera fans get everything they want and even some songs they didn’t know they might need. Ghost is a creative force that is all killer and honestly very little filler.