Ghost’s Tobias Forge Says the Next Album is Already “in My Head Right Now”
We’re only a few months out since the release of the incredibly well-done Impera, but Ghost frontman and ass-wobbling aficionado Tobias Forge is already scheming about the next one.
That revelation was shared in a recent interview with Heavy Consequence, Forge said the band’s next release will be different from past albums, marking a new moment for the band.
I have an album in my head right now that I think is going to be different from the one I just made. Both Prequelle and Impera were ideas that I had since six, seven years back. They were so different from each other in the sense that the “plague album,” as I call it, was about the little person’s annihilation on almost more of like a carnal or a God’s wrath point of view, whereas the “imperial record” was more of a structural demise of the mechanics of society. So they felt like two different things and the idea that I have for the next record is also a different thing from that. It’s just a way for me to compartmentalize the ideas of finding new ways to inspire me lyrically and conceptually.
As a songwriter that weaves stories into the albums he creates, Forge said that though the music has turned into a type of “lore” that fans could dig into, it was all “just rock ‘n’ roll records, 40 minutes of rock music.” What ultimately came about through sheer luck, however, is how Ghost’s records tie into modern day issues: pandemics, dictators, apparent collapses of empires.
I think that it was just luck that we just happened to release it in a matter where it seems a little clairvoyant. But these are old subjects … everything’s cyclical, that’s the thing, everything just goes in circles so it’s not very hard to be clairvoyant, you can just look back on time and sort of alter it a little, draw on, or shave off a mustache and you have a future asshole who will do something similar to something else a hundred years ago, two hundred years ago, three hundred years ago. it’s always the same, it’s very repetitive.
Honestly, the interview with Forge over at Heavy Consequence is an interesting read. Be sure to check the rest out over there to learn about the bands that influenced Impera, as well as how he’s had to shape the music to fit the band’s growing profile.
Impera is available today via Loma Vista Recordings. Ghost is also about to head out on tour with Spiritbox and Mastodon. Be sure to check them out at any of the following dates:
8/26 – San Diego, CA – Pechanga Arena San Diego
8/27 – Tucson, AZ – Tucson Convention Center Arena
8/30 – Austin, TX – Moody Center
8/31 – Corpus Christi, TX – American Bank Center Arena
9/2 – Huntsville, AL – Von Braun Center’s Propst Arena
9/3 – Duluth, GA – Gas South Arena
9/4 – Asheville, NC – ExploreAsheville.com Arena
9/6 – Tampa, FL – Yuengling Arena
9/8 – Danville, VA – Blue Ridge Rock Fest (no Mastodon)
9/9 – Trenton, NJ – CURE Insurance Arena
9/10 – Belmont Park, NY – UBS Arena
9/12 – Providence, RI – Dunkin Donuts Center
9/13 – Bangor, ME – Cross Insurance Center
9/15 – Quebec City, QC – Videotron Centre
9/16 – Laval, QC – Place Bell
9/17 – Toronto, ON – Coca Cola Coliseum
9/19 – Saginaw, MI – Dow Event Center
9/20 – Youngstown, OH – Covelli Centre
9/21 – Peoria, IL – Peoria Civic Center Arena
9/23 – Green Bay, WI – Resch Center (w/ Carcass, no Mastodon)
