Ghost - Impera

Impera is the fifth studio album by Swedish heavy metal band Ghost, originally released in March 2022 via Lorna Vista.

Formed in 2008 in Linköping, Ghost (also known as Ghost B.C. in the US) began playing underground shows and sharpening their sound, and through their occult ritual-styled performances coupled with strict vows of anonymity, (obscuring themselves under monks' cowls) their popularity with metal fans flourished, and soon spread to the rest of the world via their debut album, Opus Eponymous, defying expectations with a surprisingly welcoming melodic sound, weaving together '60s psychedelia, '70s doom, and '80s new wave of British heavy metal.

Ghost’s fifth psalm, “Impera”, is their most biting and political yet. And that from a band who has toppled many a church in just under a decade of existence. The dozen songs take on themes of isolation and demigod worship, as well as colonization of both space and mind. The songs are critical, yet sympathetic, to a new world order.

Dominated by despots both real imagined…digital and of the flesh. The new leader Papa IV, has stirred yet is not shaken. Building himself up to lead Ghost to further global domination. In his way are not only the vestiges of a global plague but his confidence as the person to deliver on the promise and messages of these songs.

As we head into our third year of these ‘20s. the world is poised for new hope and new direction. And for this, legions of Ghost fans await Papa IV’s first moves.

This album is a limited Australian edition 2024 reissue on maroon and teal smash coloured vinyl housed in a single pocket sleeve with a 28 page illustrated booklet, pressed in Europe via Lorna Vista.