Ghost Opus Eponymous (2026 Repress) LP

Swedish rock band Ghost's 2010 debut studio album Opus Eponymous is still considered to be the group's finest moment, and was nominated for a 2011 Grammis Award (the Swedish equivalent to the Grammy Awards) in the Best Hard Rock category.

Formed in 2008 in Linköping, Ghost began playing underground shows and sharpening their sound. Given their occult ritual-styled performances, their popularity with metal fans in their home country flourished. In 2010, they issued a three-track demo, followed by the single "Elizabeth", and both quickly sold out. Their debut album, Opus Eponymous, on Rise Above Limited, defied expectations with a surprisingly welcoming melodic sound, weaving together '60s psychedelia, '70s doom, and '80s New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and their reputation spread. They took to the road, touring internationally. They were forced to take the Ghost B.C. moniker in the U.S. because another band had laid claim to the name. Though it was a tad confusing, it didn't hurt their reputation for wildly theatrical performances, and their identities remained cloaked in mystery. After a long legal battle, they won the right to their name without the suffix.

Opus Eponymous is an extraordinary debut that slowly peels back surprise after surprise as you delve into its 35 minutes of music ... just like how Rosemary's Baby is so much more frightening than Saw, Ghost's comparatively understated method proves to be far more effective, not to mention creepy as hell.

Although its songs are rife with heavy metal's favorite subject matter and unmistakably menacing brand of staccato guitar riffing, the restraint of their attack, not to mention their production (no overdriven amplifiers are to be found here), hark back to what passed for a metallic aesthetic during the very early '80s, or even before.