Boo! Ghost has managed to create quite the stir since their 2010 debut Opus Eponymous spooked up the airwaves with their throwback sound drawing comparison to Blue Öyster Cult and Mercyful Fate. Meliora keeps the momentum going with catchy rhythms, ghoulish vocals, and that spell-binding sound that keeps this mysterious band so compelling. Meliora came under the BraveWords Crossfire as scribes Mark Gromen and David Perri went toe-to-toe reviewing the album.

Gromen praised the album saying, “Musically, the eight songs (plus a harp-only intermezzo 'Spöksonat' that lasts just 56 seconds and 'Devil Church', ten more), while never belying the past, particularly an affinity for Blue Öyster Cult, opt for the heavier edge that was minimalized on the initial pair of albums. That's not to say this is thrash or anything, as the sinister seductive '70s rock melodies remain the calling card, but the tempo frequently transcends mid-paced easy listening. Greater reliance on guitars and stomping bottom end, all housed in an almost child-like innocence vocal, it's their most devilish trick yet.”

Perri adds, “Ghost is a band that channels something organic and primal about extreme metal’s roots, bloody roots. Ghost revisits our genre’s various birth places and reawakens them for us, sort of like uploading those grainy, 30-year-old printed Kodak photos on to your laptop and sharing them on social media.” 

He concluded by saying, “These Swedes from Linkoping have served an important historical function for extreme metal by reminding us of the impact of the genre’s early forefathers. Secondly, Ghost also played a cathartic function for extreme metal during the genesis of its latest bout of outsiders-be-gone (i.e. the hate of hipster metal) and, who knows, Ghost might still be around to anchor our world’s response to the next perceived enemy.”

Read more at BraveWords.

BravePicks 2015 Top 30

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17) GHOST - Meliora (Loma Vista Recordings)
18) MOTÖRHEAD – Bad Magic (UDR)
19) MARDUK - Frontschwein (Century Media)
20) LAMB OF GOD - VII: Sturm Und Drang (Epic)
21) SYMPHONY X - Underworld (Nuclear Blast) 
22) HELLOWEEN - My God-Given Right (Nuclear Blast)
23) MICHAEL SCHENKER’S TEMPLE OF ROCK – Spirit On A Mission (Inakustik)
24) SAXON - Battering Ram (UDR)
25) KAMELOT - Haven (Napalm Records)
26) VENOM - From The Very Depths (Spinefarm)
27) CHILDREN OF BODOM - I Worship Chaos (Nuclear Blast)
28) KATAKLYSM - Of Ghosts And Gods (Nuclear Blast)
29) EUROPE - War Of Kings (UDR)
30) MY DYING BRIDE - Feel The Misery (Peaceville)