Blessed be Ghost, the occult-rock greats who have spent the past decade and a half anointing the music world with a series of profane yet pop-forward rituals.
Mixing classic Eighties-metal chorus hooks with progressive-rock whimsy, paisley-print psychedelia, Latin-tongued chanting and sinfully sweet vocal performances delivered by their plethora of papal frontmen, Ghost have truly become one of the most powerful forces in modern rock.
While the gang of Nameless Ghouls have done all this in the service of their Dark Lord, Ghost’s Satan-celebrating songbook has also attracted a fervent fan base. And as the band travel the globe, they turn arenas into great places of worship.
But what is the greatest song for Ghost’s many converts to see in-concert? The kind of tune that’d get Beelzebub standing in the aisles and singing along? We asked this of Revolver’s readership, and these were the five biggest vote-getters.
“Cirice”
Can you hear the rumble that’s calling? That’s just the Richter Scale-dismantling “Cirice,” a defiantly demonic Meliora stomp-out determined to shake you to the core. You can feel its presence near-immediately, via a round of cro-magnon heavy riffs, though the band still sprinkle some sugar in the crevices with its yearning chorus and a super-singable guitar solo.
If you felt like you’d be lost without hearing this one in-concert, there’s good news: While OG Meliora frontman Papa Emeritus III has been out of the lineup for quite some time, newly instated vocalist Papa V Perpetua has already hit “Cirice” live with the Nameless Ghouls on Ghost’s latest tour.
“Con Clavi Con Dio”
“Con Clavi Con Dio” is one of Ghost’s greatest, heaviest and earliest rites. And damn, does it still sound wicked.
This dark-swung and psychedelic metal cut off Opus Eponymous distills what many folks love about the group: Latin-sprinkled, Luciferean wordplay sung through IRL band mastermind Tobias Forge’s subversively heavenly coo; hypnotic and haunted psych-rock organs colliding against pentagram-pointed riffwork.
All told, it’s a supremely evil one still worthy of our praise. And while it hasn’t been performed since 2023, the infernal psalm will be welcomed the second it gets back in the setlist.
“Respite on the Spitalfields”
“We will break away together.”
When arena staff pull the curtain back to reveal Ghost, there’s a good chance the faithful will want to hear this stunning Impera closer. Since first appearing in the setlist in 2022, “Respite on the Spitalfields” has occasionally acted as an epic pre-encore set closer, with the near-seven-minute arrangement ebbing and flowing between tender opening guitars tones and Eighties-metal riffage, all topped with an overload of occult-themed sing-alongs.
While as of press time Ghost have not performed this one since the fall of 2023, fans are no doubt dreaming that this one eventually makes its way back from the bowels of Hell.
“Square Hammer”
Revolver readers rallied together to swear the same sacred oath: “Square Hammer” rules.
The leadoff track to 2016’s Popestar EP is a spectacular statement piece from Ghost, a blood-pumping rocker about hiding from the light and living for the night. Seems only natural, then, that this snare-hammering track has become a concert favorite for Ghost fans congregating inside an arena setting.
Once Papa and the Ghouls hit the stage, it’s time to bear witness to their powers clandestine.
“Year Zero”
Each Ghost album cycle is a game-resetting year zero, in a sense. But despite the band’s steady change in papacy and visual aesthetic, there are nevertheless countless Ghost rituals that refuse to be forgotten. That’s certainly the case with “Year Zero,” an Infestissumam standout that continues to leave the masses standing in awe.
The 2013 song has ascended to the top of this readers poll for a number of reasons. Check the Satan-awaitin’ anthem’s glorious Gregorian chanting, the verse’s pulse-quickening four-on-the-floor drum pound or the chorus’ metallically moody chord swings. Papa Emeritus II’s vocal performance glides above it all with supernatural ease.
Behold “Year Zero,” a cut beknownst to many as Ghost’s greatest achievement.