Fans of Swedish metal band Ghost can finally rejoice at the news of a new album, as IMPERA will be hitting music stores on March 11, 2022 - only a little more than a month away! Although I only just discovered and became a fan of the band in the spring of 2020 after hearing and instantly falling in love with "Mary on a Cross" and therefore haven't experienced the painful wait since 2018's Prequelle that a lot of other fans have experienced, it still feels like it has been a really long time, especially since, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, it seems like this album has seen delay after delay. Last fall, fans saw a shimmer of hope when the band released a brand new song to promote the horror film Halloween Kills. Titled "Hunter's Moon" (reviewed here), the general consensus seemed to be that as exciting as that was, it wasn't likely the lead single from the upcoming fifth studio album because it was more than likely just a standalone single to promote the movie. However, as you'll see from the tracklisting provided below, that hasn't turned out to be true as IMPERA will indeed feature "Hunter's Moon" as its fifth track. We finally got some more substantial news about the album, however, when, on January 20, 2022, Ghost dropped another new single as well as announcements regarding the album, including the title, the cover art, the tracklisting, and the release date. The single is titled "Call Me Little Sunshine," and I instantly fell in love with it.
Frontman Tobias Forge (or I guess, as Ghost fans will understand, Papa Emeritus IV) enunciates vowels in such a way on this track that reminds me a great deal of Metallica, and the song is Metallica-esque not only for that reason but also because of its lumbering, heavy guitar riff a bit reminiscent of past Ghost tracks like "Cirice" and "Majesty." I love its guitar riff so much in fact that I think that it steals the spotlight away from Tobias (although I love how Forge sort of deeply whispers the "call me" part of the title at the very beginning of the chorus). Loudwire also called attention to the riff in its review of the song: "[It] counters the bombast of 'Hunter's Moon' with a reliable mid-paced hook riff that opens the track and carries forward..." It has been stated that IMPERA will overall address the unavoidable fall of empires, but it also seems to be heavily influenced by iconic occultist Aleister Crowley. The IMPERA album cover (featured above since there doesn't seem to be an official single cover for "Call Me Little Sunshine") is a direct homage to a photograph of Crowley, and the "Call Me Little Sunshine" song title is also a reference to a Crowley quote; when asked why he was so fascinated with the mark of the beast, Crowley replied, "[It] only means sunlight. You can call me Little Sunshine." Like "Cirice," I see the song as being about empathy and reaching out to people in pain, people who (like Lucifer) are outcasts and feel alone: "You will never walk alone. You can always reach me. You will never ever walk alone." It's a beautiful song, and I cannot wait to hear what IMPERA as a whole has to offer!
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