After a celebrated debut album that involved ”100 synths” and took many years from start to finish, Stockholm dark synthpop trio Priest is now writing a follow-up EP.
Strengthened by all the praise (by both the synth community and the numerous Ghost fans) for cool bodypop tracks like ”The Pit” and ”Vaudeville”, the masked and queer-ish band is heading towards a more EBM- and dancefloor-ready sound on an EP, which could see the light of day later this year or early next year.
Once again, ex-Nameless Ghoul Fire (Alpha, Simon Söderberg), will sit in the producer’s chair, but later in the process this time around. Member Salt (one of Ghost’s former bass players – Water) told podcast Blå måndag they’re considering taking singer Mercury’s trained and impressive skills one step further and improvise on machines in the writing process instead of writing on guitars. Salt also gave an excellent composer advise: if you have written melody, play it on repeat for an hour; if it still feels great, keep it.
The new Ghost album ”Prequelle” may or may not reference Fire and other Ghouls in the song ”Faith”, depending on how you interpret the lyrics by Cardinal Copia (Tobias Forge):
”There is a scourge in the guise of sanctity
A perpetrator with a quill
Although it’s…
Often steeped in well spun mystery
The accuser sends the bill
Yeah!
The Luddites shun the diabolical
A fecal trail across the land
Although it…
Stinks, feels, and looks identical
A pack of fools can take the stand
Ha!”
I’m watching you fall”
Payback for ”The Pit” by Priest then maybe, if Fire was indeed involved in the lyrics:
”Rising from the shit
Up to the edge of the bottomless pit
Reborn, I am free
Like a featus again, I learn how to breathe
The darkness was a cocoon
Just like the moth, I escape the gloom
A sparkle deep within
Lit up a flame that will guide me to win
There is no way to quell my desire
The energy inside the void, the fire”
And one of the strongest Ghost songs is called ”From the Pinnacle to the Pit” (mainly about Lucifer and Icarus). We can go on forever, but regardless of what we think of all this, now we have two great bands instead of just one.
Read my review of ”New Flesh” here, if you haven’t already.