And you thought the papacy had a difficult lineage and plenty of lore.
Wait until you dive into the history of Ghost.
Warning: This video contains fast, flashing images. Viewer discretion is advised,
especially for those with photosensitive epilepsy.
Before playing a series of Satan-worshiping popes as the frontman of an increasingly popular band,
Tobias Forge was involved with no less than five bands. As detailed by Loudwire,
Forge was a guitar player for indie band Magna Carta Cartel and glam band Crashdiet.
He also co-founded the pop-punk band Subvision and the death metal band Repugnant. Later,
these bands were heavily analyzed by Ghost fans trying to determine the frontman's true
identity. None were a big enough success to warrant Forge quitting his day job.
Forge told Revolver,
"Career-wise and [in terms of] fulfilling yourself and touring goals,
it was definitely 29 years of what felt like non-activity."
He was working in a call center for a Swedish phone company when
he created a MySpace page for what would ultimately become Ghost. He explained,
"I think it said 'Ghost,' but from what I remember, it was a picture
of a cathedral in the moonlight, and it just said 'Satanic doom' or something like that.”
Interestingly, he heavily analyzed demographics
and tried to ensure that his page reached fans who specifically enjoyed dark rock with a melody.
Forge created several Ghost demos, and he sang the songs himself.
Originally, they were only intended to be guide vocals, but within two days, he was
getting messages from managers and record labels all over the world who were interested in Ghost.
The band appears as a variety of occult clergy and Nameless Ghouls, frequently
singing songs about Lucifer, as well as monsters and historical figures like the Blood Countess.
Ghost is a metal band with highly theatrical music, and some tracks,
like fan-favorite "He Is" feel like gospel music honoring the devil.
Tobias Forge said to Psychology Today,
"As a young teen, Satan, and the idea of some sort of world that you could
be in touch with that could empower you was very much the symbol for freedom."
Forge's perception of Christianity was heavily influenced by his negative experiences with
religious people at a young age. As Forge described in an interview with Revolver,
his strict stepmother and "sanctimonious" authoritarian schoolteacher were both Christian
and used their faith to justify their harsh behavior.
At the same time, young Forge became increasingly enamored with music that his beloved older brother
introduced him to, including Siouxsie and the Banshees, Kim Wilde, and Kiss.
The 1980s were also a time that developed a cultural fascination with Satan worship
due to the moral panic known as "Satanic Panic".
This led to numerous Satan-inspired films, which Forge devoured. Per Revolver, he was drawing
upside-down crosses when he was 10 years old and even bought himself a "black-magic grimoire."
Ghost is intentionally elaborate and over the top. While they obviously take their music seriously,
their goal is often to amuse their audience. From the beginning, the band has explained
that there are no contradictions in a Satanic band making its listeners laugh.
A Nameless Ghoul from Ghost explained in an interview with Glide,
"We are a very humorous bunch. There is some sort of misunderstanding that everything diabolical
is far from humor. It's supposed to be very serious, and I beg to differ. I think that
if we want to be super Biblical [...] from a hardcore, super Christian point of view, satire
and laughter is a tool of the devil to trick people into not focusing on their suffering."
While the music, videos, and stage shows are often played straight,
some of their songs and videos can be more satirical. One of their songs titled "Kiss
the Go-Goat" is a '60s throwback about having sex with the devil, which is depicted in the
video as an elderly Satanic pope's nostalgic memory of his prime. And in February of 2022,
the band’s aesthetic is obviously inspired by Christianity, particularly Catholicism.
The band blends skeletal face paint and other Gothic looks with papal decadence. Even though
he has been interested in Satanism, Tobias Forge has enjoyed the Christian aesthetic since he was a
child. In an interview with Revolver, he explained that his mother was an art-lover and often brought
him to admire the churches for their art and architecture, as one would a museum. He described
one particular 1500s Catholic Church that captured his imagination, telling Blabbermouth,
"It had that evil feel, with a lot of old, scary paintings and big stained glass windows."
“Evillllllllll”
Forge may admire the aesthetic of Christianity, using it to design the band's look and to create
the elaborate characters on stage and in videos. But that doesn't mean that
he's a fan of Christianity. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Forge explained that he
looks at Christianity as a fascinatingly beautiful but dangerous thing, saying
"In the same way that I would not hang out with an alien from the film 'Alien,'
but I love the look of it? That's my relationship with Christianity,"
While Tobias Forge has stated to Metal Hammer that the band's albums are not a
beginning-to-end story, Ghost has some of the most complex lore of any band.
As detailed by Metal Hammer, the band portrays a variety of occult characters
who are part of The Clergy, a secretive Satanic cult. The frontman is always a Satanic pope,
but while they are all played by Forge, it is not always the same pope.
Ghost's first leader was Papa Emeritus I. His dark papal regalia was frequently accompanied
by a swinging incense burner called a thurible, and his face appears to be a pre-made foam mask
painted with skull-like makeup. He was replaced by Papa Emeritus II. As quoted by Loudwire,
Forge gave an in-character interview introducing the new "ladies man" pope.
Unlike his predecessor, this character occasionally appeared without face makeup.
Papa Emeritus III, the younger brother of the previous pope,
brought new costumes and erotic moves, but he was also soon replaced. Papa Nihil, who came next,
is depicted as an older man, nostalgic for an earlier time in the Clergy. Papa Emeritus IV
was introduced as the camp Cardinal Copia but was given an onstage papal inauguration.
The majority of the band appears as Nameless Ghouls, who are anonymous and masked.
Videos sometimes feature the powerful leader
Sister Imperator — but she has not yet performed with the band.
Ghost's Papas change frequently, and it's not usually a peaceful transfer of power.
The arrival of Papa Nihil and vocalist Cardinal Copia was accompanied by a video from the band
titled "Ghost — Chapter Three: Back on the Road." In the video, Papa Nihil and Sister
Imperator tell Papa Emeritus I, II, and III that they are going to be reinstated. Suddenly,
a Nameless Ghoul in a demonic mask injects one of them with poison. The rest of the video features
the bodies of the three previous Ghost frontmen being prepared for burial. The video ends with
three boxes labeled "Papa I," "Papa II," and "Papa III" being shipped out in a black truck.
Papa Nihil survived the slaughter but was also killed off and replaced.
During a live performance, he collapsed, and Cardinal Copia was immediately promoted.
It's unknown if the new "Papa Emeritus IV" will survive his tenure.
Tobias Forge told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,
"In every band I've ever had, every song I've ever written,
I was always called a dictator, a control freak who couldn't work with anyone else.
And I am a dictator and control freak. But I can work with people."
The band's current lineup includes Nameless Ghouls acting as guitarists,
bassists, drummers, and keyboard players, while Forge acts as the group's various papal frontmen.
However, The Ghouls who play the live shows are not the same musicians that can be heard
on Ghost's albums. Forge explained in an interview with Talking Metal,
"I don't need necessarily other people to make [...] records, except for the ones that I choose
myself, and I am a very determined tour artist, and I want the tours to be very good as well."
Forge plays all the instruments himself while writing the songs.
For recording the albums in the studio, he has a favorite drummer and keyboard
playe r that he likes to work with, but neither has ever been in the touring
band. He also revealed that many members of the band have their own solo careers.
When the band started, the true identities of the bandmates were a carefully kept secret.
As described in Revolver, after shows, the band members frequently greeted the audience unmasked,
but fans respected their choice to remain anonymous and never took photos.
Before Tobias Forge was revealed to be the band's creator and the man behind the various Papa masks,
he would give interviews as one of the Nameless Ghouls. Some fans did a significant amount of
detective work trying to find out who the actual people behind the band were.
A Nameless Ghoul explained to Blabbermouth that the easiest way
to stay anonymous in the modern world is to not be on social media, saying
"Just don't update people. Don't have social media,
and soon as anything is being said about you, don't comment."
Even when the band was still anonymous, it was hinted that it wouldn't always be that way,
"Even in the future, when it might not be as hidden, or as secret,
I think that you can still uphold [...] fog around you,".
The band's current lineup still includes Nameless Ghouls acting as guitarists,
bassists, drummers, and keyboard players.
Between dedicated fans trying to deduce their identities and hints that their names wouldn't
remain hidden forever, Tobias Forge's identity was still revealed in an unexpected way.
In 2017, the other members of the band accused Forge of not paying them what they deserved
and sued him for kicking them out of the band. The Nameless Ghouls, some of whom had already
revealed their actual names, also revealed Forge's name by naming him in the lawsuit.
As quoted in Metal Injection, Forge explained that the lineup, apart from himself, had changed
many times since the beginning — because the touring band was exclusively a touring band.
Forge expressed regret that he hadn't put maintaining anonymity in their contracts,
though in an interview with Blabbermouth, he acknowledged that the expectation of
performing without named credit might have contributed to the conflict.
The case against Forge was dismissed, and the band continued with a new touring lineup. Forge
informed fans that he had always written the music alone, so there would be no change to the music.
"Fine."
“I’ll do it myself.”
He told the Colorado Springs Independent,
"I've been in charge and working on this full-time, nonstop, for 10 years. Other
people in Ghost would work a few hours every day, and then, during the four months between
tours when I was making a record, they weren't really doing anything that had to do with Ghost."
Before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the world in 2020, Ghost released an album
all about a plague. As stated in Rolling Stone, some have described it as predicting the pandemic,
but Tobias Forge says it's just an example of history repeating itself. Forge told the outlet,
"Everything in nature and time and our behaviors is very cyclical.
It's almost eerie how we're basically repeating the 1900s again."
Forge also stated in an interview with NME,
"I think this record might be the first positive record ever written about the plague."
The album, released in 2018, was called "Prequelle" and is about a plague. But
the disease that Ghost sang about is more than an ordinary epidemic spreading from person to
person — the story is also about the spread of contagious ideas. As explained by Forge,
it's a story about survival, mortality, and if immortality would be worth it.
Tobias Forge told Rolling Stone,
"When I made 'Prequelle,' my life was kind of shaky,
but the world was ironically in a more steady place. Whereas making the new record,
I was in a very good place personally, but the world was the opposite."
“It is already Friday in Ukraine,
and already we are hearing reports of explosions being heard in the capital.”
After the accidentally prophetic plague album, Ghost released "Impera," which is
about the fall of empires. Some have connected this to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine,
which had not yet occurred during the album's writing. As with "Prequelle,"
Forge told Rolling Stone that this is an example of history being cyclical, stating,
"We have just gone through what would be an equal to Spanish flu in the beginning of 1918
and, currently, we are on the brink of what could become World War III."
That idea of history repeating itself is echoed in the book that partially inspired the album:
"The Rule of Empires: Those Who Built Them, Those Who Endured Them,
And Why They Always Fall". The book discusses empires from Ancient Rome to the modern-day.
Forge described the album to Rolling Stone as not being about any particular empire,
but more about how empires self-destruct. Despite this, fans have been quick to notice references in
the lyrics to specific political figures, including Donald Trump and Mike Pence. As
described in Metal Hammer, the song "Griftwood" describes individuals who use religion as a
tool to gain power when, in reality, they are hypocrites who don't believe what they preach.
While Ghost's albums are sometimes coincidentally prophetic,
they explicitly reference the past in many of their songs. That doesn't mean
they are only interested in history, however. As stated in an interview with The Independent,
the final track of "Impera" is set during the time of Jack the Ripper's murders in London. Tobias
Forge explained that he is drawn to the Victorian era not only for its aesthetic but also because
he feels that there are important parallels to modern times. Forge told The Independent,
"It's similar to today in the sense that the world
was also going through a big industrial revolution."
In an interview with Loudwire, Forge commented on current events,
viewing Russia through the lens of empires that always eventually fall. He stated,
"We have distanced ourselves from the [...] cyclic nature of everything. Therefore it comes
as a shock to us that something as barbaric and old-school as war and the threat of war [...] or
pandemics…it actually comes every now and then, as they’ve always done, as they always will."