Ghost seemingly came out of nowhere in 2010 with Opus Eponymous.
What we have here is a band playing a kind of 70's influenced,
occult-rock-infused metal, with
one Papa Emeritus on vocals and with five Nameless Ghouls backing him
(as of this writing, the members are still anonymous, though apparently
the vocalist has all but been identified).
The music, the mystery surrounding the members, the Satanic overtones,
they've all help to make Ghost a buzzworthy band.
But while the band deservedly has many supporters,
there are more than a few detractors out there, many of whom
point out that Ghost is either a cheap
Mercyful Fate
knockoff or a
Blue Oyster Cult
clone.
About that -- neither description is accurate by itself, but there's
something to both statements, as some of the riffs on Opus
do harken back to
the Fate of old, and the vocal lines are quite plainly reminiscient of
the Cult,
while on Infestissuman the similarities to both bands (especially MF)
are lessened
as the band is defining its own style.
Really, describing Ghost as a MF/BOC cross doesn't
do the band justice, even if it's not terribly off the mark.
Apparently the official band name (at least for the US market) is
Ghost BC due to name conflict/trademark issues.
Recent album: Phantomime,
released on May 18, 2023.
