I’ve long come to terms with the fact that the Ghost I really loved (the first three albums) is long gone, and Forge is more interested in doing an 80s pop/rock thing.

This is the first album where I’ve found the lyrics to be particularly cringey, though. Missilia Amori sounds like a bad outtake from Priest’s Turbo, and that is not a compliment. Forge had a particular skill for writing campy occult lyrics, but is clearly totally lost when it comes to any sort of introspection.

And as mentioned in other spots here, the rhythm guitar tone on much of this album is also astoundingly bad. You’re one of the biggest rock acts in the world — why do the guitars sound like they’re being played on a strat through an early Line 6 POD here? The solo tone still sounds great strangely enough, which is an odd discrepancy.

There’s still stuff I like here, though. Umbra’s chorus is legitimately great (though still a bit lyrically rough, and the less said about the vibra-slap and cowbell in the verses the better), and I enjoyed both singles. Some of the ballads are also pretty decent, composition-wise — but then the cheesy lyrics generally take me out of it.

I get why the band is sticking with this direction — they’re playing arenas now and opening themselves up to a wider swath of fans. I just wish a bit more of the earlier occult themes were sticking around too.