Words & Photos by Andrew Parks
The Artist & Their Most Recent Release: Ghost, Opus Eponymous (Rise Above, 2010)
The Set In a Few Sentences: The most telling moment in Wednesday night’s Ghost show had nothing to do with sweat resistant corpsepaint or a hexed pope hat; it was when the Ghoul With No Name led his hooded minions in a slightly demented rendition of “Here Comes the Sun.” While the Beatles hit sends rays of hope spiraling right through the heart of Abbey Road, it takes on a whole new meaning when performed by a band that looks like they’re about to host a black mass and/or sacrifice the hardcore dude who keeps stage diving right into the venue’s tiny lighting rig. Like the rest of Ghost’s thoroughly enjoyable debut album, the devil-worshiping version of “Here Comes the Sun” is disconcerting because it pairs black metal theatrics with pure, unadulterated Top 40 tendencies. Seriously, though–just try and listen to the tracks below without being pulled into their tractor beam of Route 66 riffs, propulsive rhythms, and triumphant hooks. Why, just this morning we were singing “This chapel of ritual/Smells of dead human sacrifices/From the altar” to the horror of everyone else on our subway train, and we…just…couldn’t…help it.
Check out more photos and a couple Ghost cuts that’ll have you reaching for your old Mercyful Fate records below…
