Ghost Scares Up Keenly Melodic Doom Metal

Cards on the table upfront. Swedish doom metal act Ghost combines what hardcore metal maniacs dig most about the genre. The bridge gifts you with a fire and brimstone guitar solo. The guitar passages suggest something soulless crafted them. Not to mention some sleep with the lights on vocals. On the table right now I submit for your approval "From The Pinnacle To The Pit". It's marvelous how whenever henchman Papa Emeritus III (I kid you not. That's his handle.) utters the song title his partner in poetry, Alpha formerly Fire (Again I'm not making anything up) is at his side belting out outstanding riffs that make you want to bone up on the devil worship you've let slide by of late. If you listen to bassist Water (What did I say about me not fabricating the truth?) you can hear how his bass, as chord progressions go, follows in tandem with Papa's spooky vocals. I don't mean to imply you'll wet your pants following along to these guys and their twisted playbook but it's eerie how the sounds are so maniacally in sync. Gravediggers everywhere will eat this up. But, if you don't list this occupation on your call sheet you will still be rewarded for your cosmic energy with a track blessed with cold eyes that bear into places you didn't even know could be violated. Why the estate of Maurice White doesn't sue for millions in copyright damages remains a mystery. I mean really...some dude named Earth plays drums. Wind plays keyboards. Only Fire appears to have gotten wise to the setup and became known as Alpha. Off the bat Ghost seeks to intimidate in the most devilish manners possible. Peruse the opening lyrics and you'll sense Ghost's collective elevator doesn't go up to the top floor. Delusions of grandeur are one thing but "You have the power. You wear the crown from the pinnacle to the pit." Man's splash down from acme to nadir...complete with engrossing rhythm section. "It's a long way down." Anybody but me get chills on the back of the neck? Added poetry takes the form of "You wield the scepter. You wear the gown from the pinnacle to the pit." Give the words room to pollinate in your system. After they've gotten their chance you'll not be able to escape the nightmare factory so easily. Musicianship maintains a high quality level here. Somewhere onetime MTV Headbangers Ball host Riki Rachtman has to be getting teary-eyed. He'd kill for this kind of cut to play. Back to the task at hand. "From The Pinnacle To The Pit" also has an unsettling choir sequence. What macabre joy. Bass execution smacks you upside the head at the outset leaving behind no survivors. Papa Emeritus possesses bloodcurdling command of his lower octave range. He's not to be messed with. At the forty second mark the entire Ghost army kicks into high gear. The drumming bores into your marrow. The guitars merge into a freaky fusion. Certainly a feast for the ears. If you want my two cents these guys and Slipknot should go bowling together. They have a trip to the far side of crazy in common. It serves them nicely. The bridge alluded to earlier kicks into high gear at the two minute mark and how monstrous the aftershock is. "From The Pinnacle To The Pit" constitutes all that's righteous about metal. It's a mere taste drawn from its parent album "Meliora" but having your bib strapped on snug would be sage advice. Here's a pinnacle you'd be loathe to climb down from.