“02 Con Clavi Con Dio” off Opus Eponymous

When someone says NWOBHM do you know what that means? I sure as hell didn’t. Upon clarification this acronym makes perfect sense. I was talking to a pal about Ghost and that’s what they replied to me with. NWOBHM, or New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Bands that embody the sounds of the great metal bands from the early English heavy metal movement. Think Iron Maiden, Venom, Witchfinder General and later, Cathedral. Ghost has made quite the ripple in the sea of metal blogs. Even Darkthrone listed them as an influential band and well, if it’s good enough for them… But these guys are Swedish. What? Yeah. Think about Mercyful Fate, hailing from Copenhagen: stranger things have happened.

At first rotation, Opus Eponymous seemed like a friendly bunch of chaps. After a few minutes you quickly realize that these guys are Satanists. A trip to the band’s Myspace concludes just that, at least in presentation anyway. A lot of bands claim to be Satanists, so it sometimes comes across as cheesy, even when it’s used in satire. Coming from six-unnamed artists, it carries a little more clout. When you really get into Opus Eponymous you realize how chilling the lyrics are. In a world of over-the-top black metal performance where the band mates drench themselves in rotting blood and carcasses, Ghost actually gave me goosebumps. It’s like watching an old Christopher Lee horror movie from Hammer Films. Sometimes the presentation itself is more important than the message and that’s not the case here.

Check out the rest of this review at the Mishka Bloglin!