On Friday, Ghost released their five track EP Phantomime. This EP is Ghost’s newest cover album featuring See No Evil by Television, Jesus, He Knows Me by Genesis, Hanging Around by The Stranglers, Phantom Of The Opera by Iron Maiden, and finally We Don’t Need Another Hero by Tina Turner.

Each of these covers hit it out of the ballpark in terms of the cover itself and the “Ghost vibe” each song provides. Each of these songs fit in extremely well with Ghost’s catalog of songs. Along with this each song, the album gives a hint into what is coming next for the band in terms of lore and on-stage performances.

Jesus He Knows Me was the first song to drop from the EP. It introduced a new character into the Ghost lore, Father Jim Defroque. The song is a criticism of the televangelists who take advantage of their devoted audiences and use their donated money for the televangelist’s own gains. The song has a beautiful guitar rift throughout the whole song. It is fast paced and the drums bang just right and the chorus just hits the brain so perfectly that you cannot help but to just vibe along to the song.

Phantom Of The Opera dropped just a few days before the whole EP did. Unlike the classic song from Iron Maiden, Ghost’s version is told from the view of the Phantom. With the slight change in lyrics, Ghost fans speculate about the upcoming fate of their current frontman of the band Papa Emeritus IV. It is tradition that eventually the current frontman will be “killed” and replaced, and with Papa Emeritus IV being around for a long time and with what the lyrics of the song (along with other signs from the previous album) are implying it might be his time. The song itself is a very evil feeling song. A guitar rift again accompanies the song, but this time it is much more sinister and almost evil. The song, while most certainly modern still is able to make you feel as if you are sent right into medieval Europe.

See No Evil again hints at Papa Emeritus IV’s demise. The song of course is about the Three Wise Monkeys statue of see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, but focusing on see no evil. In the context of Ghost, it could allude to the fact that despite Papa Emeritus IV knowing the fate of the past Papa’s he refuses to “see the evil” being planned against him, with the plot to “kill” him off next. Contrary to the last two songs this one makes heavier use of the drums to control the flow of the song, but of course there is an amazing guitar solo. The way the song is constructed just makes you want to shout! You want to, well, see no evil and you have to have the whole world know. The simple catchy lyrics make it impossible for this song to not get stuck in your head.

Hanging Around sound like a cheerful song about hanging around different spots in the London area, but when Ghost is added in, it becomes a whole lot darker in meaning. First off, the song is originally by The Stranglers. The previous frontman Papa Emeritus III was “strangled to death” thus already adding one connection to the lore. Secondly in the new interactive experience released by Ghost there were many allusions to Papa Emeritus IV and him “hanging around” with ropes scattered around this area. Again, pointing to a possible fate to Papa Emeritus IV. It is relatively calm but provides more than enough energy to get you in the mood to dance.

Finally, we look at We Don’t Need Another Hero. This one is confusing in terms of Ghost. The original song was about the movie Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, and the life of Tina Turner herself. With the main references to the movie and Turner’s life, it is difficult to see what this could mean in terms of Ghost, but one explanation is that Papa Emeritus II was trying to be a “hero” and he rebelled against the heads of Ghost wanted. (In Ghost’s lore the band is controlled by an entity called “The Clergy”) This song could be referencing how The Clergy had to “kill” Papa Emeritus II before they wanted to because of his antics and now The Clergy sees what Papa Emeritus IV is doing and they do not want to have an apocalyptic war for a lack of a better term between the supporters of Papa Emeritus IV and The Clergy. Again, this is just one idea there are many more ideas to consider. In terms of music, it really hits on the apocalyptic vibe it wants to have. It makes you feel sort of sad for a world destroyed, with people so distraught despite these people not actually existing.

In short, this EP is amazing. It all fits with the Ghost vibe and story they are trying to tell. With the release of this album before their upcoming tour it surely sparks some excitement into the hearts of Ghost fans, but with caution knowing what might happening to Papa Emeritus IV.