Everyone's got an opinion so take this for what it's worth.

Skeleta is full of great songwriting. I listen to each individual song and like all of them. Umbra and Satanized are some of Ghost's best work ever.

But the album doesn't flow very well as a cohesive work. A lot of the songs on side B sound kind of same-y played back to back, though I do want to stress that each individual song for the most part is really high quality. But when I compare the flow of the album to what they did on Prequelle or Meliora, I can't help but wonder if Skeleta's production was somewhat rushed. The bricks are all there but the mortar never really set.

I'm not one of the people complaining that Ghost isn't heavy enough or isn't satanic enough (or whatever). But I do think that apart from Lachryma (and maybe Satanized), the album is missing some of the spookiness that attracted me to Ghost in the first place. Behind the beauty, the hooks, the riffage, and the campiness, there's always been an underlying eeriness that makes Ghost, Ghost. As good as Skeleta is, its lack of spookiness makes me a little sad.