If You Have Ghost EP
Spinefarm/Universal
Swedish Satanists GHOST team up with Dave Grohl for this five-track EP which sees them evil up an eclectic selection of songs that give some surprising insight into their own influences.
Face-painted and swathed in the robes of a Black Cardinal, frontman Papa Emeritus II holds court masterfully, his band of Nameless Ghouls producing a sound more akin to ‘70s Blue Oyster Cult than the blood-soaked extreme metal that their countenance might have you bracing yourself for.
Army Of Lovers’ Crucified is the standout track here, as sinister, malicious and nightmarish as any of Alice Cooper’s seminal mid-’70s work. Emeritus’s voice chills during this number and the song bears next to no resemblance to the 1991 electro dance original.
The title track is courtesy of The Thirteenth Floor Elevators, and summons a suitably creepy vibe, while ABBA’s I’m A Marionette sticks a little closer to the original’s puppet theatre theme, but they stamp their own identity on each song effortlessly.
The icing on the cake is a live version of their recent single, Secular Haze, capturing the restrained force of the band on stage and putting Australia on warning that their Big Day Out performances in 2014 are not to be missed.
SHANE PINNEGAR
