Ghost have announced their highly anticipated new album, SKELETÁ, arriving April 25th via Loma Vista Recordings. The video for lead single “Satanized” can be streamed below.
Despite its sinister title, the new song is quite graceful and sees Ghost fully embracing their melodic-AOR side. Shades of Styx and Def Leppard are present on the prog-tinged rocker, which is drenched in a blanket reverb effect that’s straight out of the 1980s.
Meanwhile, the accompanying music video introduces Ghost’s “new” frontman and the latest iteration of band mastermind Tobias Forge, Papa V Perpetua, whose arrival was previously teased when Ghost were announced as part of Black Sabbath’s upcoming final concert. Along with the clip, the band also launched an interactive element dubbed “The Satanizer,” in which fans can upload a photo that will morph them into characters featured in the video.
As for the new album, SKELETÁ is self-described as Ghost’s “sixth psalm,” opening a new chapter in the band’s expansive, fictional lore. It will mark a shift to more personal lyrical content, away from the “outward facing subject matter” of previous albums Impera and Prequelle. Instead, the LP will “render the distinct individual emotional vistas of each of its 10 songs in one-on-one fashion, at times as if in a dialogue with oneself in a mirror,” as stated in the band’s press release.
SKELETÁ is set to drop just over a week after Ghost embark on their previously announced world tour, which includes a summer run of US arenas. That leg kicks off July 9th in Baltimore, and you can get tickets here.
Pre-orders/pre-saves for SKELETÁ are available via this location, while the video for “Satanized” and the album artwork and tracklist can be seen below. Tobias Forge will appear on the popular Morbid podcast this Friday (March 7th) for an exclusive interview about the new album.
SKELETÁ Artwork:
SKELETÁ Tracklist:
01. Peacefield
02. Lachryma
03. Satanized
04. Guiding Lights
05. De Profundis Borealis
06. Cenotaph
07. Missilia Amori
08. Marks of the Evil One
09. Umbra
10. Excelsis
