GHOST
Swedish genius Tobias Forge released medieval musical Prequelle, elected Cardinal Copia, and led his ghouls to victory at London’s Royal Albert Hall
It began with an onstage altercation. During a show in Gothenburg last September, two guards dragged away Papa Emeritus III. Then the aged man we now know as Papa Nihil stepped up and announced: “The party is over. The Middle Ages begin now.” The internet lit up with rumours. Was the elder statesman going to lead the Swedes into the next chapter? Would he have the energy?
Nine months later, Prequelle was born. A life-affirming Satanic musical with 80s interludes and sweeping string sections, helmed not by Papa III or Papa Nihil, but by a brand new, younger, and ‘sexier’ emissary – Cardinal Copia. The appointment sent shockwaves through the congregation, in a bold move from Tobias Forge, Ghost’s now-unmasked mastermind.
“It was introducing a new dish to the restaurant”, he explains, when asked whether he was nervous about the Papal transfer of power. “If you’re doing something radical, it’s hard sometimes to objectively see how radical things are. But the story must be pushed forward and you can’t be predictable. So, I felt uncomfortable, but it was a calling.”
Through a series of videos, a wildly creative backstory emerged, revealing more about the history of Papa and his consort, Sister Imperator. Ghost played a string of European festivals, before bringing their unholy vision to London’s grand Royal Albert Hall. The Nameless Ghouls ran riot on a retro mirrored stage set with their characteristic stained-glass backdrops, while a perverted Cardy C led the room through an impressive, career-spanning set.
“I felt… joy,” remembers Tobias today, speaking over the phone from the States, where they’re playing shows under the banner of A Pale Tour Named Death. “There’s always this little rush you feel when you run out to the frontline of the stage and deliver your first line. It was a very fluent evening, and at that point we hadn’t played for a few weeks and it was nice being out doing what I do. The band business is historically surrounded by a lot of other things, and you spend a lot of time doing things other than internationally performing.
But what makes you wanna do this, is that at the end of the day you stand onstage and perform. That’s the
five-year-old in you that wants to entertain and be seen. That’s where I belong. This is what I’m fighting for. This is what I know.”
Ever the showman, his hip-wiggling, winking performance elicited the kind of screams more suited to a Shawn Mendes show. But there was one man who stole his thunder. During driving instrumental Miasma, Papa Nihil was helped onstage to deliver the sax solo, greeted by uproarious applause. Did Tobias realise that moment would be such a smash hit?
“Of course, I’m an entertainer, that’s what I do!” he laughs. “I’m not playing the saxophone, but of course I knew people would like that, because I would love to see that myself. And a lot of things I’m doing with Ghost are things I would have died to see myself.
“There’s this rock’n’roll moment where sax is used in a lot of bands I like to hear live. I love Bruce Springsteen, big stadium rock where saxophone’s just a natural part, and it comes out usually in a bit where you need it to go to 11. Guitar solos can take you far, but a saxophone solo will elevate everything a little. Everyone will be smiling when that happens, and I love that moment. The same with the keytar solo, it was one of those; when you’ve exhausted the guitar solo, how about a keytar solo?”
Ghost’s quest for world domination continues apace, and they’ll play 20 countries supporting Metallica next year – a dream come true for lifelong fan Tobias, and a prime opportunity to spread their gospel to the masses. Tobias insists that they’ll be bringing as much production with them as possible, to create that hallowed, spooky set-up we’ve come to know and love.
“Even though I understand perfectly well it’s not going to be a full house every night of the week, these venues are between 30, 40, 50,000 – up to 80,000 people every night,” says
Tobias. “And even if it’s half full, that’s still a lot of people. And if you ever wanna become a big band, that’s how you do it. You play in front of big audiences, so there’s no way around that. And to be able to do that before Metallica and being asked by Metallica to be there is a big honour.
“We’re quite elevated in terms of being main support and we’re playing an hour I think – a long set,” he continues. “But obviously we must get our production to fit into there, enough to get people to understand that when we come back, it’s going to be even better. A lot of the places we’re not doing on our European tour but we’re heading with Metallica, might be places we might return to later…”
Tobias is excited to be topping Hammer’s end-of-year countdown, but his sights are firmly fixed on the future. Ghost plan to tour Prequelle for a couple of years and put out album number five in 2020. But will we learn any more about Sister and Papa’s relationship? Will it develop any further?
“I don’t know if it can develop more in this day and age, but I think it’s definitely going to be unravelled… what it was, and has been,” Tobias says cryptically. “You’ve definitely not seen the end of that, no…”
“of course people loved tHe sax!”