Lincopia, Otrogothia, 2015. “The clergy has adjourned and the
Nameless Ghouls are summoned…” A new and very much anticipated
album is about to be released, and it’s time for Papa Emeritus II
to step down and let a new pope take office in the Ghost clergy.
This event is marked
through a ritualistic video, where the band is praised for their
efforts so far - two album releases, one of which was a gold record.
But they are told there is still room for improvement. The cardinals
have elected a new pope, and the smoke burns black as a symbol of the
Ghost and the arrival of the new member of the cult band. One of the
cardinals, who remains nameless in the video, says: “This man will
take the band further than any of us could ever have imagined. I
present to you now Papa Emeritus the third.”
The unique delivery
of the vocalisation and the harmonics has always been one of the
Swedish band’s staples. Their music takes on an ethereal atmosphere
that reminds you of going to a church. The only difference is that
this is a church that is being led by the band, which is kind of the
point whenever you consider the structure and naming of everything
that they do - and the fact that Papa looks like an inverted pope. It
is one thing to have a theme, but it is another thing to have the
music actually remind you of that. With each theme it is as if you
are involved in some sort of parochial environment, one that is
illuminated towards the dark cultish side, which is what Ghost have
done throughout their career.
Opus Eponymous
When Ghost released
their first album, Opus Eponymous (2010), they caused mayhem within
the music industry. No one knew who these masked geniuses were; nor
did they care. The music spoke for itself, and it made no difference
whether the members were well-known musicians or not. Releasing an
album influenced by 60s, 70s and 80s rock, with bands like Black
Sabbath, Blue Öyster Cult and Pink Floyd at the centre of it, was
exactly the breath of fresh air the metal and rock industry needed.
Ghost came in with such grace, but managed to blow everyone away with
their Devil worshipping theatrics.
It didn’t take the
band long to get recognised for the simple yet majestic music they
had produced - soon after the release they were touring with bands
like In Flames and Trivium. A lot of musicians have been mesmerized
by their act and you will often hear big artist such as Phil Anselmo
(Pantera and Down) praising their work. Anselmo, wearing a Ghost
t-shirt, invited Ghost on stage to close their set at Download
Festival 2011. They finished off the set with Bury me in Smoke,
but Anselmo changed the lyrics to Bury me in Ghost. In an
edition of Sweden Rock Magazine the album was named the third best in
the past decade, with the first two being The Final Frontier and A
Matter of Life and Death by Iron Maiden.
Each album has thus
far been based around a theme. A Nameless Ghoul said: "The first
album is about the forthcoming arrival of the Devil, spoken very much
in biblical terms, much like the church will say that doomsday is
near.” The album ends on the song Genesis, the birth of Antichrist.
Their second album, Infestissumam, continues from the Antichrist’s
birth onwards. The Nameless Ghoul said: “Everything on the first
record was about a coming darkness, an impending doom. Whereas
Infestissumam is about something present. And literally, it deals
with the presence of the Antichrist. But subliminally, the meaning of
it is more what mankind - predominantly men - have deemed to be the
presence of the Devil, throughout history and even nowadays. That’s
why the record is so fuelled with sexual themes and females.”
Infestissumam
Musically,
Infestissumam took the band to a new level. It was more thought
through and even more theatrical than the first. Now, being on an
American label, the recording process wasn’t as straight forward as
it had been with Opus Eponymous. As they were recording in Nashville,
the band struggled to find a choir to perform their satanic lyrics.
One of the Ghouls said: “We told them what they were supposed to
sing, and one of the guys almost cried as he took offense…So we
ended up recording the choir in Hollywood, where people have no
problem with worshipping the Devil.” The album was finally released
in the beginning of 2013. It reached number one in both the Swedish
album charts and in the US Billboard Hard Rock Albums.
Meliora
Meliora was released August 21; still keeping the cult rock theme alive, with
prog interlaced within it. The album has a mixture of different kind
of tracks, all working together in harmony, but also as stand-alone
pieces. Each song uses its own energy and its own atmosphere,
encapsulating the ministerial feeling of being in the house of Christ
(or Antichrist). The album is musically constructed with much
finesse, with elements of ABBA and The Beatles, and some heavier
elements of early Black Sabbath present - a strange combination that
somehow seem to work euphonically.
Being an unusual
group, openly worshipping the Devil, the band has been met with some
controversy. The band recently had to postpone a concert in
Pennsylvania, as it coincided with Pope Francis’ visit. Show
promoter Sean Agnew of R5 Productions said the event - billed as
“Ghost vs. Pope” - was to be a religious “head-to-head battle
for Philadelphia.” He said: "The band wanted to get really
creative, and have their own Ghost motorcade where the singer would
go around the city. We had these great ideas to create an alternative
to the pope. But more and more stories started to come out about the
lockdown. We had to scale back."
As for the members,
the band has revealed that only their closest friends and family know
who they are. Some critics have said that the decision of remaining
anonymous is to gain more attention. The band quickly disputed this
and said that the idea behind removing their personalities would
allow their audiences to focus upon the artwork itself. Speculations
and rumours are of course all over the internet, with the most recent
being Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) on drums.
It is confirmed that
Grohl produced and played drums on the If You Have Ghost EP, but if
he is a permanent member has not been confirmed. In an interview with
Rolling Stone a Nameless Ghoul said this about Grohl: “Well, we
can’t really know, can we? I can tell you this much: He has played
Ghost material in a ghoul suit. And he might or might have not have
[performed onstage], and he might or might not in the future. How’s
that for a commercial cliffhanger?”
As they embark on
their Black to the Future world tour, it now remains to see what Papa
Emeritus III will bring to the band and how he will utilise his time
in office until the next Papal Conclave.
Who are they?
The identities of
the six members are something which has been speculated on since
their first release and appearance. These speculations will remain so
until the band (if ever) decides to unmask. For now, this is Ghost:
Five Nameless Ghouls and Papa Emeritus III. Each Ghoul has been
allocated a symbol (pictured on their cloaks). When signing
autographs they will stamp their symbol.
The lead guitarist: 
The bassist: 
The keyboardist: 
The
drummer: 
The rhythm guitarist: 
