Holy Ghost

Ghost released one of my favorite Metal albums in 2010, with their Opus Eponymous LP. I listened to the shit out of that thing. I couldn't get enough of it. Even though I don't typically collect multiple copies of Metal records, I couldn't resist Satan's call, and I ended up buying four of the twenty different pressings for that first album.

Because I loved the first album so much, I worried that Ghost might fall on their face with the follow up, Infestissumam. Could they match the magic of their debut? Since the band's popularity grew so quickly, would there be a drastic change in sound that would put me off? If they didn't change their sound and basically did the same album again, would it bore me?

Yeah, I know...I put way too much thought into this kind of stuff.

I checked out the albums first couple of singles, including the video for Year Zero with all the boobs...but I didn't really spend much time with them, as I really wanted to hear them in the context of the album. However, once I had the album, I was still hesitant to lock myself away and spend some time alone with it. Soon, I started hearing from friends how great Infestissumam was, so I finally took the plunge. After a handful of spins, unbelievably, I'm starting to wonder if this new album is actually better than the first. Amazing.

The North America pressing is on a nice looking red colored vinyl. The drawback is that the album cover comes with the new Ghost B.C. name, after the band had to change it in the States for legal reasons. Retarded.

I'd passed on previous pre-orders of the first single from the album, the Secular Haze 10 inch. With a release date in April, I couldn't bring myself to pre-order the single from overseas when they went up for sale earlier in the year. When I saw a US distro selling a package deal that included the new album and the 10 inch, I took the opportunity to finally grab one.

The main selling point for the 10 inch single was the b-side cover of Abba's I'm a Marionette. Like their cover of The Beatles Here Comes The Sun, I'm a Marionette is hauntingly brilliant. An excellent choice for Ghost.

I've already mentioned that I'm not a fan of the new "B.C." addition to the name, and when I saw the Scandinavian pressing that Doug posted about, I knew that I needed to get my hands on one.

The clear vinyl pressing was long gone by the time that I bought a copy, and I ended up with just black vinyl. That's okay...the deluxe packaging for this version still makes it worthwhile.

Apparently there was some delay with the CD in the States, as the pressing plant had an issue with the Satanic orgy artwork. Apparently people still get uptight over this shit. The Scandinavian pressing displays the picture in it's full 12 x 12 glory on the record sleeve.

What makes this deluxe packaging so special is the booklet that is included, with each song getting it's own page with a dedicated piece of artwork. Classic.