On the front of dinosaur metal act Ghost’s first covers EP, If You Have Ghost, stands Papa Emeritus. His eyes are fierce and bulging. It looks like he’s awaiting his cue in a Pythonesque Gilliam-toon. A gigantic pink foot could crush him any second. You can almost hear murmurs centring from a huddle of Nameless Ghouls: “And now, for something completely different.”
Ghost blow out the candles on an already spooky Roky Erickson number, Papa Emeritus hinting at the lingering traces of humanity in his croon. If you didn’t know I’m A Marionette was a spit-and-polish ABBA track, Ghost’s guitar crunch and doom would never betray it. Imagine Benny and Bjorn not only selling their souls to the dark lord but getting a plum job in his entertainment department.
Army of Lovers’ Euro-goth Crucified trades the MDMA for LSD transforming it into a psychedelic ‘70s jam. Fuzz stomps through a funeral for Hammond organ on Depeche Mode’s Waiting for the Night, which hears Ghost deftly boil down all the paranoia and fear of the original into pure, unbridled apocalypse. Secular Haze played live rounds the disc out, a reminder of just how tightly this dark unit operates.
Taking a peek at the liner notes reveals that producer Dave Grohl did more than producing; If You Have Ghost is Dave’s evil metal fantasy camp. He drums, he plays guitar, he grins like madman all the while. Grohl or no, it’s indisputable: Ghost cover impeccably. If You Have Ghost assuredly elevates these anonymous rockers from dime store spooksters to champagne guzzling connoisseurs of evil.
BY TOM VALCANIS
Best Track: Waiting For The Night
If You Like These, You’ll Like This: CANDLEMASS, CATHEDRAL or KING DIAMOND
In A Word: Crushing
