Opus Eponymous

Opus Eponymous (Latin for the self-titled work) is the debut album by Swedish heavy metal band Ghost, released on October 18, 2010. Recorded in the band's hometown and produced by Gene Walker, the album was released on the independent record label Rise Above and nominated for a Grammis Award. It was released in North America on January 18, 2011, and in Japan on April 6, 2011. The Japanese release contains an additional bonus track; a cover of The Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun".

Overview

A band member, all of whom are referred to only as Nameless Ghouls, explained that the songs on Opus Eponymous were written in 2007 and 2008, around two years before the album. It was the songs that caused Ghost to become a theatrical band with their Satanic theme, "Very early on, when the material came together in the project phase before it was actually a band, when it was a logo and a couple of songs, it came together by itself because the material and the lyrics sort of screamed a over-the-top commitment to the dark side. It is hard to make that credible and really eerie. What we thought of when we heard the songs is basically a band that looks the way we do now.", explained a Ghoul. A member said that it was the song "Stand By Him" that heralded the start of the band; "while being together in another band, Ghost started when I played a riff to everybody else. I said that this is probably the most heavy metal riff that has ever existed. Then I showed them the opening riff to “Stand By Him.” When the chorus came to me, it haunted my dreams. Every time I picked up the guitar, I ended up playing that progression, and when I fit the words in, it seemed to cry out for a Satanically-oriented lyric. This was in 2006. When we came up with the name Ghost, it seemed only natural to build on the foundation of this heavy imagery. Within that concept we were able to combine our love of horror films, and of course, the traditions of Scandinavian metal."