Those who’ve not bothered to peer beyond the shtick (the clergy costumes and elaborate stage makeup) should be forgiven for dismissing Swedish band, Ghost.

It’s easy to see their tendency to stay in character ALL OF THE TIME as a pretty pale effort at prompting some publicity, but if anything it has undone them with their third album Meliora. Because it’s genuinely spectacular. Barely resembling the metal category the band have been confidently swept into, Meliora is more like a religious musical that truly would not be out of place doing a limited seasonal run at your local theatre. Gothic, grand and even sometimes ever so gaudy, there’s grand scale production here that’s so delicious you’d be forgiven for breaking into dramatic dance.

This week the band offered up a highly stylised video for single From The Pinnacle To The Pit, which while not necessarily one of the album’s strongest (there are A LOT of really strong tracks here) definitely one of their creepiest- so decidedly on-brand. Relinquish your expectations and cynicism (it’s truly hard to do, we know) and wrap your ears around the track:

Alternatively check out their previous video for Cirice:

Thoroughly goosebumped yet? Then head to the full album stream:

Ghost Meliora is out now on Lorna Vista Recordings/ Spinefarm / Caroline Australia.