And now, a sampling of lyrics from the debut by enigmatic Swedish group Ghost: "Lucifer, we are here for your praise"; "Believe in one God do we: Satan Almighty"; "Hear our Satan Prayer — our Anti-Nicene Creed"; "The devil's power is the greatest one"; "Essss! Ayyyy! Teee! Ayyy Ennnn!" In case that's too subtle, the overarching theme here is The Infernal One, and all things related to him: witches, cauldrons, buckets of blood, goats. But where other bands who favor this subject matter tend towards lunatic rhythms and depths-of-hell vocals, Ghost opt far something far more insidious: melody. The best way to describe Opus Eponymous would be to say it's as if someone merely explained the concept of Black Metal to Blue Oyster Cult, then asked them to write what they think it might sound like. There's no growling or grinding, just sinister singing and acid-washed guitars. On Opus Eponymous, the devil comes disguised as an angel of Fairlight.

The members of Ghost insist on anonymity, and it wouldn't be too surprising if this turned out to be some secret side-project of, say, Peter Bjorn and John. The harmonies on "Elizabeth," the group's love song to Elizabeth Bathory (of… read more »