Album Review: Ghost – Impera

March 19, 2022 | Reviewed By Nick Davarias

Ghost are one of the most polarizing bands in the rock and metal community nowadays but one thing no one can deny is how popular they are. From supporting Metallica to selling out the Royal Albert Hall in minutes, the band clearly have a devoted fan base and these same fans have been eagerly awaiting the band’s new album ‘Impera’ for quite some time now, but the wait is finally over. Here are my thoughts on Ghost’s latest album.

Opening track ‘Imperium’ is just a mood setter really, a melodic instrumental to set the tone for what’s to come. The real first taste of the new album comes from ‘Kaisarion’. Right out of the gates, the album has a much more poppy feel to it than previous albums and personally, I feel this track misses the mark a bit. For me, the appeal from Ghost comes from their well-blended style that mixes their dark aesthetic with a more broadway musical esc metal approach yet this track just feels like a radio-friendly effort.

‘Spillways’ does however get me back on board with the record. This track is more of what I expected from the album. It feels like a natural progression from their previous stuff and I welcome the subtle changes to the sound to match the new era of the band. Following that is ‘Call Me Little Sunshine’, one of the album’s singles that has already gone down pretty well with fans. The song reintroduces a more gloomy aesthetic that fans have come to love and this is intensified in what has to be the best song on the record, ‘Hunter’s Moon’. This song is exactly what fans of the band want, similar vibes to the likes of ‘Rats’ and ‘Square Hammer’ from previous albums. Not to mention, the single caught a lot of attention from being the featured song in the movie ‘Halloween Kills’ late last year.

As the album goes on, I feel the quality slowly fades. ‘Watcher In The Sky’ has a great opening; however, the track itself does little to captivate the listener. ‘Dominion’ is yet another Atmospheric instrumental that you probably won’t be listening to on its own as it leads into ‘Twenties’. This song is decent and I think the guitar work complements the more abstract vocal delivery throughout the song however, I can’t help but feel like it’s missing that special kick that Ghost is normally so good at delivering. Unfortunately, every album has to have a weakest song and ‘Darkness At The Heart Of My Love’ is it for me. I think the idea of having a ballad track of this nature could have worked but the lyrics just fall on deaf ears for me. A hard pass in my opinion.

The album does pick up for the finale somewhat starting with ‘Griftwood’. This song just feels like quite a generic ghost track that you’d probably expect to be a B side to one of the singles while the penultimate track ‘Bite Of Passage’ is a third and final instrumental that builds tension before the grand finale, ‘Respite On The Spitalfields’ If there was one song, to sum up, this album for me this is it. It’s just ok. Nothing special yet it has its moments that show it could have been wonderful.

If I’m being perfectly honest, I think this is one of Ghost’s weakest releases to date. The album is full of dull lyrics matched with uninspired tracks that feel like they are there just to make up numbers. The album does have its moments of greatness, however I can’t look past the glaring issues with the record.

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