Ghost (32) – Prequelle

I preordered the Prequelle CD directly from Loma Vista back in 2018. After some initial issues with getting them to even send it, once they finally did it was defective. It would play through but it would have these constant skips throughout and the volume was drastically reduced. After stopping/starting it over and over it would eventually begin playing correctly. I had to do this nearly every time I played it. I never addressed it with Loma Vista because I was done dealing with them. I say all this because I wonder if anyone else had this or similar issues with this disc???

I enjoyed this album. It was a little bit of a grower for me, though. There are some cool instrumentals, but there's a clear more mainstream/pop direction that might turn off the more hardcore fans who got into this band because of their first album. If you compare it to their more darker work and want it to be something like that, you'll probably be let down. If you stand this album by itself, its a good release.

I do miss the more darker elements of the band, though. I like the instrumentals, but a 10 track album didn't need three instrumentals (or two and "Ashes" being more of a prelude track into "Rats", but still) and I like the ballads, but I my first time listening to this album and hearing the final track "Life Eternal" and saying to myself "really, another ballad?!"

It's a good album, but with three instrumental tracks and pretty much 3 ballads on what is a 10 track album it left me wanting more in a bad way. The heavier songs "Rats", "Faith" and "Witch Image" are great songs. "Dance Macabre" is alright. Dance Macabre is a little too radio sparkle like Square Hammer only without the balls that Square Hammer had that made it an enjoyable tune for the casual listener and the core metal base.

I can't give this album a bad rating. I enjoyed it. Most of the songs are very good. "Faith" shows that the band can still be heavy. "Witch Image" shows the band can still be dark. Tobias flexed his creative muscles here and I can't sneeze on that. All too often I see metal bands rest on cliches that they know won't offend the purists. Tobias does a good job expanding the Ghost palette a bit, but I wish there was more heavy tunes on here.

The bonus tracks are two covers, "It's A Sin" and "Avalanche". "Its A Sin" is catchy. "Avalanche" is one of very few Ghost cover tunes that I don't like at all. I like that Ghost is diverse with the songs they choose to cover, but Avalanche was a rare miss for me.