Meliora Review

Band	Ghost
Album	Meliora
Type	Album (Studio full-length)
Released	August 21, 2015
Genres	Hard Rock, Heavy Metal
Labels	Loma Vista Recordings
Length	41:35
Ranked	#189 for 2015 , #6,068 all-time

Reviewer :  Kildneybean         Rating :  90 / 100

<Hearken the thunder that's breaking in your heart>

Following the departure(read: firing) of Papa Emiritus II, Ghost immediately introduced his younger brother, Papa Emiritus III, and released the follow-up to 2013's Infestissumam, Meliora. Therefore the voice change isn't all that drastic(because of obvious reasons).
Meliora (Latin for "the pursuit of something better"), like other Ghost studio albums, has an album cover based on a movie poster, this time being the 1927 film "Metropolis" by Fritz Lang. And the album cover is pretty clever, with Papa Emiritus' posture actually looking like his own face. Pretty nice eh?

Something to note about: the album cover isn't all that's amazing to this album. Meliora ain't that bombastic. Every single song actually plays a significant part on shaping the album as a whole. For those who aren't all that familiar with Ghost's sound, they remind me of occult(ish) Fire of Unknown Origin-era Blue Oyster Cult with a psychedelic touch(imagine Tame Impala) gone heavy. Ghost pulls off a satanic cult atmosphere that percolates the whole album, from start to finish. Tracks like From the Pinnacle to the Pit, Cirice, and Majesty takes a heaviness-oriented road while tracks like Spirit, Absolution, and Deus In Absentia is more melodic and less heavy. One common thing though, is that the riffs and melodies are stupendously well written. They sometimes even demonically resonate with you, giving shivers down your spine. (What a jerk Papa Emiritus III is, trying to possess me!) For every new spin you will get a brand new track stuck on your head. It's only the matter of what it is; be it the acoustic lines of Spoksonat, the pipe organ-led intro of Devil Church, or the Latin lyrics of He Is, it will pave a way inside your synaptic clefts.

Meliora, overall, is a very solid release with no weak songs. The only downside I found was that the catchiness can bite back, causing the songs to be banal after a few hundred listens. But other than that, this album is wonderful, and deserves multiple spins. +1 addition to the Swedes' wonderful catalogue.