10 Best Hard Rock & Heavy Metal Live Bands Of 2017
6. Ghost
When your lead singer is a regenerating anti-Pope with monochrome skull facepaint, you can be pretty sure your band is going to be one that will turn a lot of heads. And since their 2010 debut Opus Eponymous, the Swedish doom rock enigmas Ghost have been doing just that.
After 2015 saw the release of their hugely successful Meliora disc, soon followed by 2016 and the monstrous single “Square Hammer”, Ghost are a group aided not only by a unique look, but also a massive collection of bona fide hits.
Joining the new addition “Square Hammer” under their collective belt are anthems like “Cirice”, “Majesty”, “Ritual”, “Year Zero”, “Monstrance Clock”, “Absolution”, “He Is” and a cover of “If You Have Ghosts”, all of which never fail to receive roars of delight whenever they show up in a set.
Exhibit A: when the band headlined the Saturday of Bloodstock Festival 2017, busting out hit after hit in a display that demonstrated the brilliance of Ghost’s catchy song-writing. Despite not wholly fitting in with the extreme metal that is Bloodstock’s bread and butter, Papa Emeritus et al. made the main-stage crowd putty in their hands, receiving riotous roars of delight for almost every song.