I also love Skeletá, basically been listening to it non-stop since it came out. It is very different compared to previous Ghost offerings, but a lot of spicy fans seem to forget that this a
feature of the group, not a bug. Every Papa is different, we’ve had everything from intricate Satanic choir music to surf rock. The sound is supposed to change and evolve, both for IC and OOC reasons.
Perpetua is an 80s child. I agree with
@Cereal Killer — there’s Journey in here, some Iron Maiden, some Alice Cooper. Just some beautiful synth work, some glorious anthems for 80s dark fantasy movies that never existed, and some amazingly ridiculous stripper music.
Most the albums initially go through a phase where they divide the fandom. Ghost has this weird listening curve where you might hate a song at first, then you listen again and you love it. We’re in the thick of that now, but to bring this back to Staph — I see a lot of fans feeling either disappointed or miffed or confused that Skeletá has some Christian themes. There are songs that clearly reference God, and not always in a dismissive or disrespectful way (I mean there is a song about boning in a church, but it’s a
banger with enough cowbell to restore my faith in humanity). So it will be interesting to see if she picks up on this more as she listens. My personal theory remains that Perpetua, the lost twin, was raised in the Christian faith and is dealing with the fact that he comes from a dark Satanic lineage. Does he embrace it? Renounce it? Take down the Ministry from within? Dun dun dun.
Here is where I’ll fight Staph — Ghost has a history of “memento mori” songs because historically, every Papa has died. HOW DO YOU PLAY
EXCELSIS AT YOUR FUNERAL WHEN
PRO MEMORIA EXISTS. Excelsis is the only song I actively dislike, it just sounds so musically and thematically smarmy compared to Pro Memoria. It is where I get up off my ass and stop the record. Hell, play
Darkness at the Heart of My Love, if Copia bites it I’m gonna put that song on endless repeat and sob like a little bitch over a dude in a silicone mask.