Rats

"Rats" is a song by Ghost. The track was released as the lead single to Prequelle, the band's fourth studio album. The track topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart in July 2018, and was nominated for the Best Rock Song Grammy Award at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.

Background and Release
The song debuted on April 12, 2018, on SiriusXM, and was officially released the following day. The song is the lead single from Ghost's fourth studio album, Prequelle, ahead of the album's release on June 1. As with prior music with the band, the song was created by Tobias Forge and a group of anonymous band members called "Nameless Ghouls". However, the song was the first to feature Forge's new alter ego stage name, Cardinal Copia, and was performed by a separate set of anonymous band members than prior material, with all prior band members leaving the band in 2017 following a lawsuit with Forge regarding pay. The song's music video was also released on April 13.

Journalists noted that the video's style and dancing appeared to be influenced by Michael Jackson's music video for his song "Thriller".

Music Video
The song's music video features Cardinal Copia dancing throughout an apocalyptic city in flames, while his Nameless Ghouls play their instruments. Throughout the video, rats can be seen crawling around an abandoned restaurant and other locations. At the end of the video, Cardinal Copia catches sight of a pale, white horse.

Reception
Greg Kennelty of Metal Injection praised the song for being "darker" and "heavier" than the material from their prior album Meliora, concluding that "if you've been dying for something like Ghost's debut album Opus Eponymous with a more updated sound, then you're going to absolutely love 'Rats'." Vince Neilstein of Metal Sucks similarly praised it for its catchy guitar riffs.

Personnel

 * Cardinal Copia - vocals
 * A Group of Nameless Ghouls – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass guitar, drums, keyboards