Ghost’s Tobias Forge on Losing Anonymity: “It Was Just a Question of Time”

Ghost frontman and band-leader Tobias Forge has been out of the metaphorical closet for so long now (actually only two and a half years, give or take, although rumors from as far back as eight years ago proved to be correct) that it’s hard to remember a time when no one knew who was behind that mask. It also doesn’t seem to matter one bit that people now do know: Ghost are more popular than ever, exponentially so.

In a recent chat with Talking Metal, Forge reflected back on his unmasking and shared how he views it in hindsight:

“Slightly mixed emotions now, a few years later. I don’t think about it as much. I definitely pondered on the concept of how to eventually orchestrate that for years. It was just a question of time. You can’t have a goal for your aesthetic operation to continue to grow if your intention with it is to be less known. It doesn’t work like that; that’s defying physics. I knew that for every step that I was taking for the band to become bigger, I’m taking a potential step to ruining the anonymity.

“I also need to be clear in saying that the concept of anonymity as opposed to being masked, that was something that I gave up very early. There’s a clear distinction about being anonymous and about being a masked person.”

Forge is getting set to trot Ghost out on the road in North American arenas in just a couple of weeks, then he’ll do the same in Europe later in the fall. The band will be recording a new album in early 2020, but won’t release it until after the U.S. presidential elections.

[via Ultimate Guitar]