Seven Inches of Satanic Panic

Ah, Ghost, the name the likes of which send metal elitists into a tizzy. Just the name itself invokes either a love for the tropes of the past or a disdain at the concept that they are, loosely speaking, a metal band.

This is really more a single than an EP so I'll try to keep it brief. The two songs on this album are entirely enveloped in the tropes of the late '60s. This wouldn't be a bad thing if there were a few more songs to make this complete. Kiss The Go-Goat Isn't a bad song, it's actually worth listening to but it's so absurdly familiar with their past works that you wonder how much longer they're going to follow the tropes. If you said to me "Hey Steve, I heard this new song by Ghost and it sounds like something from the '60s", this is exactly what I'd envision them making.

The second and final song on this EP, Mary On A Cross is another absolutely average song. I know Cardinal Copia hasn't always had a range but most times that works to his advantage. Generally when you listen to a Ghost song, the somewhat droning voice of Forge is accented by a backup band of nameless ghouls that are powerful enough to hold your interest. That was certainly true in Meliora but it seems to be lacking here. I get what they were going for, a retrospect of late '60s music done half a century later. In Academia, the saying is "if you quote one person it's plagiarism, if you quote ten people it's research" and Ghost would be wise to learn this. Everything about it sounds a little too close to something like The Lovin' Spoonful or The Mamas and the Papas.

All in all, if you really long for the days of peace, love and draft dodging, Ghost's Seven Inches of Satanic Panic is a perfect holdover for you. I respect Ghost as an artist, but maybe next time spend a little time researching more than one or two past artists to make your own style of music awesome. I know you have it in you, the first three albums are loaded with great songs, but what is happening now is the band is now becoming mainstream and that leads to poppy songs that don't last in a person's memory.