Swedish rock sensation Ghost are due to drop their excellently-titled covers EP, Phantomime, later this week (May 19) and they've blessed us with a new track—a cover of Iron Maiden's "Phantom of the Opera."
Ghost's rendition of the song is wonderfully faithful, keeping the bones of the original song intact but letting the band's unique phrasing and singer Tobias Forge's instantly-recognizable voice shine through. "Phantom of the Opera" is the second cover we've heard from Phantomime so far, the first being Ghost's take on the Genesis classic "Jesus He Knows Me."
The other three songs covered on Phantomime are Television's "See No Evil," The Stranglers' "Hanging Around" and Tina Turner's "We Don't Need Another Hero."
In April, Forge spoke to NME about why Ghost decided to lead with "Jesus He Knows Me."
“A few years ago, maybe 10 years ago, it almost felt like this song – these other songs too – were a little bit dated lyrically. That’s because they were! You know, this band – these guys in Genesis – were singing about early ’90s ladies; about televangelists!
“All that stuff, it felt dated a few years ago. Whereas now, everything that we’re singing about on this song, everything that this song is about is actually right back up beside what I’m writing about in my own material.
“What I’m writing about is a completely contemporary commentary on basically a movement within the free Western world who wants to flatten the Earth. This movement wants to regress the world, and just completely turn the clock back to Mediaeval times. I don’t know what that’s about, it’s just stupidity!”
You can listen to Ghost's new cover of "Phantom of the Opera" below and check out their cover of "Jesus He Loves Me" right over here.
