Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	78/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
AntiHero Magazine
The Guardian
Metal Forces	7/10
Pitchfork	6.2/10
PopMatters
Sputnikmusic	4.3/5
Stereoboard.com
Western Herald	9.5/10

Meliora (Latin for "the pursuit of something better") is the third full-length album by Swedish heavy metal band Ghost. The album was produced by Klas Åhlund and released on August 21, 2015. It marked the retirement of lead vocalist Papa Emeritus II, who was replaced by his younger brother, Papa Emeritus III.

The album was generally well received, placing on several music publications' lists of the best heavy metal albums of the year and winning Best Hard Rock/Metal Album at the 2015 Grammis Awards. Lead single "Cirice" won the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. In September 2016, the band released a special edition of the album, called Meliora Redux.

Ghost began crafting their third studio album, the follow-up to 2013's Infestissumam, at the end of 2014. The impetus for its "futuristic" theme came to a Nameless Ghoul a month or so prior to starting the Infestissumam tour. While trying out a new guitar rig during a rehearsal, the Ghoul created a "spacey echoed" effect that made a guitar riff sound "futuristic [and] sci-fi". At this point, he had the idea for their next album.

A Nameless Ghoul said that, because guitar took a backseat on Infestissumam, the band focused on guitar riffs from the beginning of the new album. He explained that part of this was achieved by having four different guitars, each played through three different amps, making four performances going through 12 amplifiers. They used two Gibson SGs, one from the early 1980s and the other from the 1960s; a 1962 Gibson Les Paul; and a Fender Telecaster.

Discussing the selection of Klas Åhlund as producer, the Ghoul said that despite his reputation for working with pop singers and having never produced a heavy metal band before, Åhlund had many of the same musical interests as Ghost. A band member also said, "I definitely think that we got a lot of ideas and a lot of new angles that we wouldn't have had, had we worked with a more established rock producer".

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