Lord only knows, or in this case Satan only knows how Rise Above Records can time and again unearth band after band of such originality. Ghost are the latest gem to be unearthed and these Black Metal ghouls are preaching straight from the book Beelzebub. Rather than the primal bestial screams and fury of what we normally associate with Black Metal, Ghost deal more in the macabre and are just plain evil.

Ghost have undoubtedly gorged at the table of Merciful Fate and feasted on the discography of King Diamond to create a sound that while reminiscent of the Danish master it is by no means clone like; blending King with Coven, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest with more mainstream pop creates a melting pot of intensely groovy yet divinely evil collection of tunes. At a shade over 35 minutes “Opus Eponymous” rattles along delving into the listener’s subconscious planting seeds of the dark one.

The cheese factor is at maximum throughout the album, yet rather than diminish the impact of the record, such is the cleverness of the writing that without the more clichéd moments such tracks as “Ritual” and “Elizabeth” would be strangely missing something. The clean and crisp production is in perfect balance with the vocals, creating a huge paradox of delivery verses content. "Our father, who art in hell, Unhallowed be thy name" sung crystal clear in the style of Wishbone Ash; not your average Metal album.

“Opus Eponymous” is like the cross dresser of the Heavy Metal world, jumping between Priest-fuelled riffs to the unashamed world of pop. Despite this extreme mixture of genres the whole album has a plethora of knock out songs from "Stand By Him" to "Satan Prayer" to “Death Knell" to "Prime Mover". All stand out in their own right but collectively….wow! If this is the earthly voice of Satan, then bring on the inverted crucifix and tattoo me with 666, as the new order is here.