Tobias Forge Cryptically Promises a “Change” Before Ghost’s Next Album
Swedish metal sensation Ghost always seem to have new tricks up their sleeve and whether you like them or not, frontman Tobias Forge promises another big change is coming.
Many fans have been predicting that Papa Emeritus IV is finally on the way out and will soon be usurped by a new version. And while the character said as much during the band’s final show last year, Forge has largely been secretive about what will exactly change.
While speaking with Metal Hammer, Forge said fans will eventually find out what Papa Emeritus IV’s fate will be. They’ll just have to wait sometime “between now and the next album.” This amount of preparation and hinting, he said, is all part of the act. As such, he said he’s already begun writing the next record, promising that it will take listeners in unusual directions.
“I like to compare what I’m doing to being a chef. A chef with a few different interests and specialties. So you might start a few different restaurants—an Italian one, a Greek one, an Asian Fusion one. But what they all have in common is the seasoning, the decor, and the interior design … the secret sauce. With me, each record, each new cycle, is a new restaurant, but I don’t have to sit with an empty paper and come up with something new every time because the secret sauce is the same. If it comes from my notebook, it will sound like Ghost.”
Forge also mentions that through his journey with the band, one of his big influences has been Rammstein.
“They were doing really well before, but since they’ve been doing the outdoor thing over the last three or four years, they’ve really upped the standard. They’re friends and colleagues, but I look at what they’re doing and it’s so inspiring to see. They definitely prove you can make that jump from being an arena-selling band to playing to 55,000 people a night. But you do need to put a lot of effort into it.
“The one thing that goes against that dream for me is that I really don’t like outdoor shows, because you’re up against the elements. Outdoor shows are great when it’s slightly overcast, 20˚C out, no wind or anything. But if it’s windy or raining or too hot, it just fucks with my control tendencies.”
But overall, Forge makes it clear that he has no desire to go backwards, and wants to take things with the band to the next level.
“Of course, if I could go back in time and curate everything, there would be a few things that I would have done differently,” he says, “but that has little to do with my actual career.” And what a career it is turning out to be.
