"From the Pinnacle to the Pit" has a memorable groove to it (as do a lot of Ghost songs), beginning on lightly strumming electric guitar and occasional light percussion. It is arguably one of the heaviest songs on Meliora, however, once it picks up (although definitely not the heaviest). Featuring a fun and theatrical music video drawing inspiration from old silent films (as does the band's music video for its single "Square Hammer"), the song takes on an empathetic view of Satan and his status as a fallen angel; the song title, after all, refers to coming from a high point (the pinnacle) to a low point (the pit): "You are cast out from the heavens to the ground," Papa Emeritus III (who might just be my favorite of the three Papas, as he is probably the most stylish and contemporary) sings in the catchy chorus, "blackened feathers falling down. You will wear your independence like a crown." This is quite clearly referring to how Lucifer used his exile from heaven as an opportunity to rule over his own kingdom, but what I love about this song (and many of Ghost's songs for that matter) is the fact that it definitely does not have to be taken that literally because some of us (myself included) likely know what it's like to be exiled from a place, to be outcasted and ostracized, and a song like this can really help a listener who has felt or is feeling that way look at it from a positive point of view. "Cirice" (an Old English word meaning church) is not only my favorite song on Meliora but one of my favorite Ghost songs period. The song, without a doubt, showcases some of the most impressive and earth-shattering guitar playing that I have ever heard from a hard rock or heavy metal act and is - hands down in my opinion - the heaviest track on the album, with that aforementioned guitar riff slamming and stomping aggressively, begging to be headbanged to. As is true of many Ghost songs, there is a grinding groove and raging rhythm to it. I also love "Cirice" not only for its sound and anthemic melody, however, but also because of its lyrics. Genius explains that the song is about warmly accepting a new initiate into a Satanic cult or church, but I interpret it more as being about having empathy for the listener in general. As the tempestuous guitar riff takes a reprieve in the chorus, Papa gently encourages the listener, "I can feel the thunder that's breaking in your heart. I can see through the scars inside you." I like to think of this song as Ghost addressing their fans, empathizing with us and assuring us that their music is there for us. "Cirice" also features a memorable music video which definitely echoes the song's theme of empathy, and it features a scene that is definitely inspired by Stephen King's Carrie.
"Spöksonat" (Swedish for ghost sonata) is a hauntingly beautiful instrumental interlude running at just under a minute, and it works well as an outro to "Cirice" because its lulling melody - which is played on a harp - is somewhat similar to the opening of "Cirice" - the somewhat eerie and foreboding guitar strumming. "He Is" is next on Meliora, and this is definitely taking things down a few notches (especially following "Cirice"), as the song is a bit of a power ballad. It, in fact, feels both sonically and thematically a bit out of place on the album in my opinion, but that is probably because, as a band member has explained, "He Is" wasn't originally intended for Meliora. It was intended for Infestissumam, but the band felt like it just didn't fit on the album, and it didn't make the cut. They were apparently attempting to amplify the song and make it more theatrical but eventually realized that the song was always meant to be a simpler song as it is presented here on Meliora. It begins with dreamily strumming acoustic guitar with Papa's somewhat echoey vocals singing the first verse, "We're standing here by the abyss, and the world is in flames. Two star-crossed lovers reaching out to the beast with many names." The sing-songy and catchy chorus praises Satan: "He is, He's the shining and the light without whom I cannot see, and He is insurrection; He is spite; He's the force that made me be." In my review of Infestissumam, I promised that in my review of Meliora, I would discuss in more detail about how the band often uses Satanic lyrics and imagery more so to mock Christianity and organized religion than to actually praise the literal figure that is Satan, and the reason why I planned to discuss that in this particular review is the "He Is" music video. In the hazily filtered video (which looks and feels like a parody of something), Papa Emeritus III is seen leading a service inside a church, a service featuring a choir singing along to the song's chorus, people in the pews singing along, and Papa making his way around the crowd accepting monetary donations on a collection plate and offering people the symbolic body and blood of Christ (which I discussed in my Infestissumam review regarding the song "Body and Blood"). Papa doing so in a stylish white suit and sunglasses looks utterly ridiculous, especially alongside a song about Satan, but that is the point. As does the aforementioned song "Body and Blood," the music video is definitely calling attention to the ludicrousness of Catholic rituals (including baptisms, which is also seen later in the video), while also possibly suggesting that, as do some Satanists (or at least what it means to be a Satanist in the eyes of uninformed people), Catholic people also have their own form of bizarre rituals.
Meliora takes an interesting turn when it goes from the light sounding "He Is" to the considerably heavier "Mummy Dust." (This, however, isn't all that unusual for rock and metal bands; take Evanescence's album Fallen, for example, going from "My Immortal" to "Haunted" and then later from "Hello" to "My Last Breath.") In fact, when the band performs "Mummy Dust" live, Tobias Forge often refers to it as one of their heaviest songs, and while I agree, I don't think that it's heavier than "Cirice." (As I mentioned when I discussed "Cirice," I really believe that to be the heaviest song on Meliora.) "Mummy Dust" begins with a slamming electric guitar riff, and I will admit that the weight of the song is much more relentless than it is on "Cirice," but I still find the oscillating guitar on "Cirice" to be heavier. My favorite part of "Mummy Dust" is the eerie piano trills that punctuate Papa's vocals in the chorus. It is lyrically one of Ghost's more coded songs, and as I said in my review of Infestissumam, there is definitely more than one way to be a Ghost fan. Because so many of their songs are riddled with obscure cultural and religious references, you can either listen to it and take it as it, simply allowing yourself to feel what you feel (which I think is a totally valid and legitimate way of listening), or you can dig into researching the potential meanings of the songs' lyrics. (The third option, of course, is that you don't need to do either because you are already aware of what all of the references mean.) I fall into the second category, as I usually find that I am able to appreciate music more if I understand obscure references. I usually use Genius for such endeavors, and Genius interprets "Mummy Dust" as a song about greed and materialism, supported, for example, by the third verse: "You're the possessée of avarice. I'm the ruler of the earth. I will smother you in riches 'till you choke on sordid mirth." Avarice is, of course, a word that means greed, and this seems to me be referring to people who won't ever be satisfied by wealth because no matter how much money that they have, they will always want more. I love the verses of the song because they are so poetic and have a rhythm to them; Papa's half singing and half speaking is even punctuated by the percussion and guitar riff. In the chorus of the song, Papa also sings, "In God, you trust...," and I don't believe this to literally be talking about God. I believe it to be a reference to the phrase In God We Trust being printed on American money. It is definitely a highlight on the album, but that isn't necessarily saying a whole lot because the whole album, really, is gold.
I like "Majesty," but it's probably my least favorite song on Meliora. (As I said, however, I really love this whole album, so that really isn't saying much, and it definitely isn't saying that I don't like the song.) I just don't find it as interesting or as ambitious as most of the other tracks. As I have discussed in previous reviews of Ghost albums, there are fans who believe Ghost's albums thus far to be somewhat similar to Marilyn Manson's second (Antichrist Superstar), third (Mechanical Animals), and fourth (Holy Wood) albums in that they are a series all telling the same story. With Manson's albums, they were released in reverse chronological order, telling the story of the rise of the Antichrist as he eventually ushered in the apocalypse. The belief with Ghost's albums is quite similar (except not in reverse chronological order). Opus Eponymous is believed to narrate the conception of the Antichrist (evidenced by tracks such as "Prime Mover" and "Genesis"), Infestissumam to narrate the birth of the Antichrist (evidenced by tracks such as "Year Zero"), and Meliora to narrate the rise of the Antichrist (evidenced by tracks such as "He Is" and "Majesty"). (I will discuss the role of the fourth album, Prequelle, as it fits into this theory when I review that album.) As I said, "Majesty" supports this theory because it seems to be about followers bowing down to a leader. The song opens with a bluesy rhythm that reminds me a great deal of blues rock bands from the 1970s but eventually brings in a more modern sounding and amplified heavy riff. "Devil Church" then works as a rather short (running at just over a minute in length) interlude between "Majesty" and "Absolution," and I really love the melody of the track, which opens on a church organ and eventually breaks out into full band, working as an excellent introduction to "Absolution." I really like "Absolution," but my only problem with it is where it is placed on the album. For some reason that I can't fully explain, I don't really like it being placed so close to the end of the album because it sonically sounds like an opener; it has an introductory energy to it. I really like the piano in the chorus, and it lyrically works as a sort of sister song to "Mummy Dust," as Tobias Forge himself has explained that the song is about material greed: "Lyrically speaking, it is a lament of the modern woman or man who spend their lives thinking that their possessions have that something else that allows them to be above any responsibility." The lyrics of "Absolution" definitely speak to this idea: "Even now, when you're here, you are moving," Papa sings in the second verse, "hysterically seeking out what needs improving, and you're still asking for the sun." At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what we have or don't have because we are all simply human and cannot take our possessions with us when it is our time to go.
Meliora closes with my second favorite song (next to "Cirice") on the album, "Deus in Absentia" (Latin for in the absence of God). The song begins with the sound of a clock ticking, eventually broken by Papa's low vocals curtly punctuated by percussion. It is not a heavy song, sounding almost, in fact, like an '80s power ballad, and has a beautiful melody in the chorus practically begging to worm its way into your ear. That catchy melody is, in fact, probably the main reason why this song is my second favorite song on the album. I also love how theatrical that it is, such as when it sonically dies down and brings in a choir. (The outro, in fact, features a choir eerily chanting the song's title in a style similar to a requiem.) I think that there are a number of ways to interpret the song's meaning from a lyrical standpoint. Coming from Tobias himself: "...This song talks about a modern and ambitious person, just at the time of his death or possibly at one of those crossroads of life in which you feel or think you are seeing or reaching the end..." The song title also suggests the possibility that the speaker of the song feels alone in the world, that without a god, there is no purpose to life. I also firmly believe in the possibility that this song (either coincidentally or intentionally) works as a segue into Ghost's fourth album Prequelle, which deals with a lot of apocalyptic themes. The catchy and somewhat poppy chorus of "Deus in Absentia" reads (or is heard) as follows: "The world is on fire, and you are here to stay and burn with me. Our funeral pyre, and we are here to revel forevermore (more)." The term funeral pyre supports Forge's outlook on the song - that it is about someone at the end of their life, but is it possible that they are dying because of a catastrophic or apocalyptic event that has proven to them that there is no God? The world is on fire strongly suggests that to me, and as I just stated and will discuss at further length in my upcoming review of the album, Prequelle is somewhat of a concept album dealing with an apocalyptic event. As stated previously, "Deus in Absentia" does officially close Meliora, but there are various bonus tracks released on different editions of the album. A limited vinyl features the rare track "Zenith," an upbeat hard rock track driven by piano and organ. (I wish that the song - which Genius argues is ultimately about science and knowledge proving Christianity to be a farce - had a wider release because it is so, so good.) Similar to Infestissumam, Meliora was also reissued with four cover songs as well as a new original song titled "Square Hammer," but those five tracks were also released separately as an EP cleverly titled Popestar, so, once again, instead of reviewing those tracks here, I am going to do so in a separate review of that EP. Look out for that!
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