Papa Emeritus IV Will Be Introduced on Ghost’s Next Album

Cardinal Copia might wanna start squirreling away some of the money he’s been making fronting Ghost… ’cause he’s definitely getting a pink slip before the band release their next album!*

Ghost mastermind Tobias Forge broke the sad news in a new interview with Kerrang!, declaring:

“I just know that [the singer on the next Ghost album] will have the name Papa Emeritus IV. It will be the fourth Papa Emeritus. But who that is, we don’t know yet.”

Forge has previously said that if Cardinal Copia “proves himself,” he “will become Papa IV,” and that “we’re hoping for Cardi to be strong enough and cool enough to possibly do something that none of the previous [singers] have done, and that’s basically to do two cycles.” But I guess Cardi C. was neither strong nor cool enough after all. Bummer.

Elsewhere in the same interview, Forge spills the beans on possible inspiration for the new Ghost record:

“I look at many fifth albums as a guide as to the urgency for what that record will need to be, with [Iron Maiden’s] ‘Powerslave’ being a great example. By the fifth album you’re at a point in your career where you have this momentum built up, and you have the expectancy of people depending on you, so you have to put something special in those many spotlights.”

Ghost’s Iron Maiden’s Powerslave? I’m in, dude.

Unfortunately for us, the new Ghost album won’t be out until 2021. Unfortunately for Cardinal Copia, the band won’t be doing any touring in 2020. Unfortunately for MetalSucks readers, I can’t think of a good way to end this post.

*I’m kidding. Tobias Forge plays all of the singers. Don’t tell your kids, they deserve to keep their naive innocence for another few years.