TL:DR- Yes. But that's not important right now.
Ghost mastermind and 90s hair product model Tobias Forge's background is pure, heavy, brutal metal. Even if Ghost isn't as heavy as Death, Black or whatever other extreme metal sub sub genre you can come up with, Ghost is nonetheless metal, as much as Iron Maiden, Metallica, Black Sabbath and so on.
Silly outfits, a literal lore and the current characters Forge presents on and off stage doesn't diminish the fact that the guitars (3 and counting) are distorted, drums are fast and the bass is well, the bass is there. Old school fans will undoubtedly start to ague that "keyboards and organs aren't metal", they obviously never heard anything Dio ever touched, or even Iron Maiden (yep they have keyboards). I'd like to see those people argue with Shagarth or Amon Amarth about their trueness. We are in the 2020s, keyboards have been part of countless metal bands, and they are here to stay.
The question however is, who the fuck cares?
You shouldn't listen to genres, you should listen to bands or albums or songs. Ghost makes loud, dark, often fast, music to dance, shake your head and sometimes mosh too, what else do people want from metal. The lyrics are dark but not Ville Valoestque. They sing about death, destruction, despair, sex, drugs and rock'n roll.
I'm sick and tired of people at shows or behind their keyboard argue what is and isn't metal. Cruises are metal, family is metal, alcohol-free beer is metal. Even cats are metal if people think it is.
The fact that there is a Spotify playlist to called "Ghost isn't Metal, explain this then" is proof enough that we, the fans want it to be metal, and so it is. Hell Satan and peace out. Listening Tips from Ghost for a complete newcomer in no particular order:
Cirice
Square Hammer
Year Zero
Watcher in the Sky
Kiss The Goat
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