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tisthenightofthewitch · 5 years

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How Ghost became the face of the new generation of heavy metal

Pressure. Controversy. An army of haters. It seems like nothing can throw Ghost off-course. How Ghost's mastermind Tobias Forge took on the world… and won

Paris, tell me… did that make your asses wobble?” It sure as hell isn’t “Scream for me, Hammersmith!” but somehow, inexplicably, this flirty, moustached, makeup-splattered dandy wiggling about in a tux and leather gloves has 9,000 people in the palm of his hand like he’s Bruce Dickinson in ’86. Hammer is at hallmark gig venue Le Zenith in France’s capital city, witnessing Ghost deliver their latest sermon.

The City Of Love might be frozen solid on this chilly February evening, but the unstoppable Swedes are heating things up in style – fire, steam cannons, confetti, a dazzling light show and enough costume changes to make Lady Gaga dizzy are just some of the ingredients reaffirming their status as one of metal’s premier attractions in 2019.

It all makes a two-hour set fly by in no time, guided masterfully by that aforementioned, ’tache-donning Daddy. Cardinal Copia, Ghost’s Master Of Ceremonies, raised a few confused eyebrows when he was unveiled this time last year, breaking an eight-year streak of Papa Emerituses who’d fronted Ghost since its inception. But he’s since become the beating heart of a band that have continued to evolve, grow and adapt beyond all expectations.

He’s also a world away from the blue-eyed, slick-black-haired, quiet and thoughtful man we spent time with two hours earlier, dressed in jeans and a hoodie, decidedly sans-moustache and doing much less wiggling.

When Hammer last spoke to Tobias Forge, he’d recently (some may say forcefully) been outed as Ghost’s resident mastermind – its very own Wizard Of Oz, working behind the scenes and behind the mask to help orchestrate one of the most unlikely success stories of recent times.

We are creating a dynasty.

Soon after our last conversation, Ghost dropped their latest album, Prequelle – an instant classic stacked with playful menace and 80s-tinged pop-rock bangers – and have pretty much been on the road ever since.

“Hey, if you wanna rock, you gotta rock,” shrugs Tobias of his relentless schedule. “It takes a lot of effort, a lot of cogwheels spinning and turning, to make all this work.” He’s not kidding.

A weary roadie will later inform us that it takes almost four hours to pack up Ghost’s monstrous set each night – a towering, multi-platformed, chapel-esque set-up that recalls the kind of backdrops Maiden have made home for decades. “But, once you’ve got that whole machine rolling, you don’t wanna stop,” Tobias adds. “At some point, we will have to wind down a bit, but we’re not there yet.

If you wanna be comparative, look at all the big bands; even though they made it in a different time, statistically it takes five records, about 10 years, to go from nothing to something to something great.”

And that, right there, sums up Tobias Forge. The reason Ghost have been such a triumph isn’t because of great songs, a good live show and a savvy gimmick – metal history is littered with bands that never made it despite boasting all those things.

The difference is that Tobias is the man with the plan. He may not be the tortured artiste or swaggering hellraiser that rock’n’roll loves to stick on a pedestal, but he’s a leader: a brand ambassador with a calculating mind and a shrewd business acumen who knows exactly what needs to be done to immortalise Ghost’s legacy.

He’s playing the game, and he’s winning. And if you look hard enough, the seeds for it all were being sown right at the very start.

“You can find all the details in my record collection,” he says with a knowing smirk – and he’s not wrong. Before Cardinal Copia, there were Papa Emeritus I, II and III – a line of frontmen that not only enabled Ghost to set up a deep-running narrative, but change up the formula and the image for every album cycle. Sound familiar? It should – it’s what rock’n’roll superstars have been doing for decades.

"I’ve always been a big fan of Kiss,” he continues. “Most Kiss fans can tell the era [of the band] by the photo, what they’re wearing. You can say, ‘That is ’75, that is ’76, it’s in the spring, it’s in the fall, it’s Rock And Roll Over, it’s Destroyer.’ So I figured that in order for this band to age, we need to create dynasties.

"And that way, there’ll also be nostalgia. Because I come from a heavy metal background, I know how important nostalgia is, and the attention span nowadays is so short, so you need to create it quickly. You need people to be able to say, ‘I was there when this part happened.’ That’s why it was always Papa Emeritus I, right from the start.”

It’s a meticulous level of forward-thinking that has come up trumps, but amazingly, you’d have been hard-pushed to find anyone who’d have backed Tobias to carve such a path 10 years ago.

Before 2010, it was with respected Swedish death metallers Repugnant that the Linköping native had had his most ‘success’, his love of rock’s theatrical side flirted with via a splash of corpsepaint and a drop of fake blood here and there.

A spate of EPs and splits and one well-received album, 2006’s Epitome Of Darkness, ensured a small part in heavy metal folklore was guaranteed, but it was what happened next that changed everything.

Channelling his love of catchy NWOBHM mainstays like Angel Witch and Demon, Tobias wrote what would become Stand By Him – an irrepressible schlock-rock anthem a world away from the guttural noise of Epitome…

He called up former Repugnant bandmate Gustaf Lindström to help record it, and more songs quickly followed in the same, earwormy vein – “I’ve always liked the NWOBHM bands that had melody and pop sensibility,” he says today.

But there was still something missing. The songs Tobias was now writing were following a formula that had been laid down since the 70s. It needed something different. Something fun. Something… metal.

Deciding that this new project should carry an image that’d bring it a world away from its influences – a band that, in Tobias’s words, should “sound like Angel Witch but look like Death SS,” he began doodling some ideas. One scribble stuck – the image of a Pope-like character, plastered in ghoulish corpsepaint. Papa Emeritus was born.

I was 29 years old. I wasn't going to get another chance at this.

“And as soon as it was confirmed that he’s gonna be a Pope… well, when a Pope dies, you have a new one!” adds Tobias with a laugh. Soon after Papa I came the idea for the Nameless Ghouls – masked, anonymous backing musicians that’d add to the band’s hokey mystique.

By 2009, the project had an image, some songs and a name: Ghost. But it’d be a little while before things started to move forwards, and Tobias’s grand plan would take shape.

Between 2008 and 2009, there were maybe 20 people who knew about Ghost,” says Tobias, who ended up fronting the band through default after unsuccessfully offering the gig to a variety of names from around the metal scene.

“The guys in In Solitude, the guys in Tribulation, the guys in Watain… they were the only people who knew about it! But I knew at that point that it was gonna have the ability to turn heads, because it made everyone [excited].

"Repugnant were popular, but nothing I had ever done had had such an immediate impact on people. They were all like, ‘Ghost! I wanna hear more!’ I knew that there was gonna be some sort of buzz.”

A “buzz” is an understatement. When Ghost’s first songs were finally made public – on MySpace, no less – things began to move very, very quickly. Metal messageboards were set ablaze with excitement and offers came flooding in.

“I was quickly in touch with Will from Rise Above,” notes Tobias now, and he would eventually accept a deal with Lee Dorrian’s much-respected label. An album, Opus Eponymous, was recorded, and the metal underground waited with baited breath for its new favourite band to deliver on the hype. And yet, even at this stage, Tobias wasn’t totally certain just how far things would go.

“Originally, I thought that Ghost was gonna become more like a theatre/installation sort of band, like Sunn O))),” he reveals. “We would play Roadburn, arthouse concerts, five dates at the London Scala, that sort of thing.”

So a kind of ‘event’ band. You’d show up to play special shows and residencies.

“Exactly,” he confirms. “I never thought we would be the band that would play metal festivals, play in daylight, play with other bands.”

But then more offers started steaming in. Suddenly Ghost – with not so much as a gig to their name – were being asked to go on tours, play festivals and do interviews. For Tobias, there was a straight decision to be made: keep this project as a ‘cult attraction’, stay within the underground and become everyone’s favourite ‘Oh, you wouldn’t have heard of them’ reference point, or take a leap into the unknown and reach for greatness.

For a man that had spent years keeping a lid on his grand ambitions, now was the time to sink or swim. And, really, there was only ever going to be one option.

“I wasn’t gonna get another chance,” he states flatly. “I was already 29 years old at the time, so it was like, ‘This is the train and it’s leaving now.’ You can choose to stay, and sit there and fucking wonder all your life, or you can get on.”

Tobias got on the train, and it hasn’t stopped rolling. Opus Eponymous was released on October 18, 2010, and within three years intimate club shows became packed-out academy shows in front of 5,000 people, and soon after that the band could be seen supporting everyone from Metallica to Foo Fighters to Iron Maiden.

They won a Grammy for Cirice (and have been nominated for two more); they’ve been championed by everyone from James Hetfield to Phil Anselmo; their merch has become obscenely big business, t-shirts selling out in no time at gigs (including the show Hammer attends tonight) and the Ghost IP being plastered across everything from baubles to butt plugs to custom plague masks.

Tobias has manoeuvred that quick sketch of a spooky lad in a Pope hat into a machine Gene Simmons would be proud of, all underpinned by a storyline that has fans salivating as they wait for the next chapter to be revealed.

And if there was any doubt that this is still very much Tobias’s baby, you need only look at the casualty list littered with names that have crossed him. There are the disgruntled ex-bandmates who attempted to bring a lawsuit against Tobias in 2017 after claiming they were denied their rightful share of the Ghost pot.

The lawsuit was thrown out in October last year, his former colleagues ordered to pay Tobias’s legal costs (around $145,000, if you’re counting). There was also the Sister Imperator incident, where the elderly Ghost matriarch and star of their ongoing vignette series had to be swiftly recast after a mysterious falling out.

“All of a sudden, you’ve an actress who decides to start making fucking trouble and makes herself unemployable,” Tobias says. “Well, then you have to do what they do in any soap opera… a car accident.” That’s not allegorical, by the way.

Tobias literally had a new vignette made revealing that the Sister was in a car wreck and needed reconstructive surgery. The new actress was brought in so smoothly that many Ghost fans assumed it was the same person with a different haircut. How’s that for efficient?

“That’s how you solve things,” the frontman shrugs. “But that was not planned at first, because we’d been working with the same actress for three years, and then all of a sudden, things fell apart. But, you have to roll with the punch, you have to bite your finger, and come up with another plan… car accident. Boom.”

That Tobias won’t be moved on what actually happened between he and the original actress is understandable – after all, this is a man that spent years holding his cards close to his chest.

That this all managed to play out under the noses of one of modern metal’s most fanatical fanbases, however, is pretty damn impressive. Basically: don’t cross the boss.

While Tobias’s masterplan may seem iron-clad, he will at least admit that there is room for fine-tweaking along the way. He recently revealed that Cardinal Copia’s character could stick around for another five years and multiple albums – a first for Ghost, who have thus far changed up their protagonist for every record.

“That’s just because of the potential of him being a ‘Pope’ or a Papa Emeritus IV,” he explains, before adding: “If he becomes a Papa Emeritus.”

So there could be multiple endings planned for Cardi C?

“Absolutely. All of this is an organic movement, and that is one of the biggest paradoxes for me, as a control freak. To be part of this living world, I can’t control everything. I can control a lot, and I can influence a lot, but I can’t control it [all]. And coming to terms with those things and accepting that is a big struggle for me.”

He’ll also admit that being the mastermind behind a machine as big and ever-evolving as Ghost has had a serious impact on his personal life. Being a part of a successful band is one thing, but having that success rest almost entirely on your shoulders is something altogether different.

“It’s very hard to do this without any casualties,” he muses. “It takes a toll on your surroundings, your crew, your parents, your children… I have two kids, 10 years old. They were toddlers when this whole thing started. My family’s had to endure a lot for this to happen.”

He’s also had to face up to the reality that being in a big rock band means you’re going to attract the attention of

a fair few haters – and Ghost have an army of them. Check out Hammer’s Facebook page to see the dizzying levels of vitriol that a post about Ghost will attract. Recurring issues seem to be accusations of selling out, anger at Tobias’s treatment of his former bandmates and, most commonly, whether Ghost belong in our world at all (and to be fair, you’d be hard-pushed to describe Prequelle as a true heavy metal record by any standards).

“I’ve noticed it,” says Tobias. “I noticed it in the beginning. I think that it’s the same old discussion. ‘Is Ghost a metal band?’ ‘Are we a clone of Mercyful Fate?’ It’s the same old thing. But now these people are saying the new record is not as good because it’s not as much of a clone of Mercyful Fate! OK…”

Why do you think Ghost wind people up so much?

“Because we are ever-present, all the time. We are being shoved into people’s faces, and we’re rubbing it in. They wouldn’t talk about us had we not been successful. Does it worry me? Not really. If they’re talking shit about me, that’s one thing, especially if it’s someone that I know. That can hurt me deeply. When you’re at the beginning of your career, especially nowadays, you spend a lot of time surveying what’s going on, because you need to feed off anything that’s happening to the band. So I noticed there was a lot of ‘controversy’, a lot of mixed opinions. It’s surprising they don’t understand that the more they talk about us, the more traffic there is about our band. More than we would have had had they not spoken!”

Once again, it’s there: the unnerving feeling that Tobias is metal’s modern-day puppet master, pulling the strings above a performance that we all continue to play our parts in. Whether it’s the media, his fans, his critics or the few who have attempted to foil him, everything only ever seems to play into his hands, and the Ghost train rolls on.

“A few months ago, based on metadata alone, a website made a list

of the biggest bands in metal,” Tobias reveals as a PR informs us our time together is up. “We were number four! Right up there. And that’s thanks to these people that keep on fucking hating. So I have nothing but great feelings for them.”

He makes to leave before adding: “That’s how all these bands made their careers. You think Lars would shy away every time people would talk shit about Metallica? Fuck. That.”

Hated, adored but never ignored. This summer, Ghost will play in front of stadium crowds with Metallica once again – something Tobias calls a “PR exercise” – before more global dates and, eventually, a new album that’ll reveal the next chapter of his grand plan. You can imagine that people will have plenty to say about it. And you can imagine that Tobias Forge is going to relish every second.

ALL RIGHTS OWNED BY METAL HAMMER

#The Band Ghost #Ghost Band #Cardinal Copia #Nameless Ghouls #Tobias Forge

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ainomessage · 7 years

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Le Mouvement Final - Spoiler Free Report *Warning - long ass post. I went to see the musical in Tokyo 4 times this year! I had only planned on seeing it 3 times, but well... 😅 Before my first show I got my nails done at my usual place, Cocotte in Harajuku. I asked for the planets (/moon) for each senshi plus shooting stars for the lights. To see more of Mashima’s incredible work, check out his insta! He paints every tiny detail by hand with itty bitty brushes. Wednesday, September 13 I went to this show by myself, but was able to meet up with the lovely @redcat36 @miniaturephantomprincess and @clockworkangel ! Everyone was super sweet and it was wonderful to be able to share the myu experience with fellow international moonies who were just as crazy for the cast as me.😆 This was also the fateful day in which I made the mistake of buying just enough can badges to get myself hooked. My seat was in the 6th row on the left side (facing the stage) so my view was good other than occasionally having a few things blocked by cast members or set pieces. I’m very glad that I wasn’t alone in how much crying I was doing throughout the show. Everyone around me had tissues out and you could hear sniffling throughout the theater. That evening Hinari played Chibi Chibi, and you could hear the whole theater squeal when she first appeared on stage. TOO. CUTE. 💖 Poor Shuu had a lot of mishaps - she flubbed one line, her suspenders popped off, and she almost missed touching Sayaka’s hand during THAT scene. After the show there was a Starlights + Kakyuu sendoff, which went by WAY too fast. I later learned I could slow it down a bit and am sad I didn’t do this for the Lights, but alas. After the show we waited outside the theater to say goodbye to the cast. Hinari gave everyone high fives (AWW) and the Lights stopped to talk to people for a bit! Saki shook my hand and noticed my Kuma Crafts Star Yell necklace and said my Galaxia + Animamates t-shirt was cool.💚 Friday, September 15 This time I went with my good friend @kaikinapela and once again met up with the other girls. This was one of the “fanclub service days” which I have to say was a disappointment. The possible prizes were a photoshoot with the cast, a signed pamphlet, or... a sticker. As you can probably guess, we all got the sticker. I think they could have done better for a third prize, especially considering the sticker was the same image as the flyer. They could have at least given us an original photo! We did, however, miraculously manage to get first row seats through the fanclub! The picture of the stage above is from that seat. I’m not sure it quite does justice to how crazy close we were. The actresses were all about 2 feet in front of my eyes, it was insane. Several times I got distracted from the show by just staring at whoever was in front of me. This is when I learned that Kobayashi Yuka (Seiren) has a belly button piercing lol. This day I also had AMAZING luck with can badges - I managed to pick two signed ones! Rimo and Kaede💛💚 This night Chise was playing Chibi Chibi and she got just as much of a gasp from the crowd at her adorableness. She’s much smaller than Hinari! During the curtain call I managed to catch eyes with Meiku and Mirai. Airi, who is the most adorable ball of energy on the planet, waved at us twice and made a heart with her hands in our direction.💖 She’s too cute! My friend has been trying to catch Yuga’s rose since 2013, but was sadly thwarted again - she did get an apology look from Yuga in return for her disappointed face, though.😉 Saturday, September 16 Same group of girls for this show! This time @kaikinapela and I were seated in the 10th row in the center (right behind ROOT, the former Jadeite, incidentally). Once again I had crazy luck with can badges - this time I pulled 3! Yume, Satomi, and Saki! I still can’t believe I got my two favorite characters (Venus/Healer) and SATOMI. Yume’s signature says “Thank you very much! Let’s meet again!” and Satomi’s says “Satomi Cosmos.” The others signed their name and did a doodle. 💖 We were back to Hinari for this show. I have to say, she was my favorite (more on this later). Though I loved being so close to the stage for the other two shows, this was the first time I fully appreciated all of the visual effects. I hope everything comes through on the DVD. After the show there was a sendoff from the Inners, and this time I at least managed to properly make eye contact with each of them as we went by. Monday, September 18 This was my bonus show. I hadn’t managed to get tickets for it online, but loved the other shows so much I had to try to get into the Tokyo finale. I waited in the insanely long line for the same day ticket lottery and drew “awaiting cancellation (#5).” This means I was 5th in line to get a ticket if someone cancelled. I thought for sure this meant I wouldn’t get in, but no! I managed to get one of the folding chairs they added behind row 6. It was incredibly uncomfortable but WORTH IT. This meant I was in front of an aisle, which is a good place to be on the last day. During Moonlight Densetsu everyone but the villains, Cosmos, ChibiChibi, and Moon (with her giant wings) ran out into the audience. At first no one was coming down our aisle, but I made sure to hold my yellow light high and Rimo saw! She came down our row for high fives. 💛 Later Mikako made a second pass and came down our aisle too. ♥ When everyone returned to the stage to wave and bow, Rimo pointed at me, waved, and blew a kiss! I almost didn’t believe she was aiming at me since she was on the opposite side of the stage, but I was the only yellow light around. 😭 💛 　That evening the inners + Tux gave short speeches, and I could see Meiku trying not to cry.💔 　Poor little Chise just looked bewildered the whole time. After the show I managed to talk to all 3 of the Lights! I was wearing my signed Healer and Venus badges, so Saki gently patted her own badge and then flicked Venus in the face.😆 Meiku was very surprised when I complimented her singing - she doesn’t seem to be very confident, which is unfortunate because she’s very talented. Riona also noticed my badges and asked if I shipped Yaten/Minako. When I said yes, she said “What about Taiki/Ami?” I told her I love them too, and she wondered if she had forced me to say it (she did not). She asked me to wear a Mercury shirt next time.💙 I also met a few other lovely international moonies that evening, but sadly I don’t know their tumblrs! If you guys see this, message me! Thanks to trading with friends, through twitter, and at the venue, both @kaikinapela and I managed to collect a full set of badges!

Overall Impressions I would rank this as one of the best musicals of all time - including the classic Bandai era. I will admit to being biased because the Stars arc is my favorite, but they really pulled out all the stops. The entire cast was amazing, even those who had small roles. Singing was fantastic across the board - the inners have improved a lot and all of the new cast members were great. While it was sad not having Karin stay for the “last” (last!?) musical, Mirai did a great job and was a strong singer. I think everyone will be especially blown away by Galaxia and Kakyuu (who is once again an opera singer!). If you’ve listened to any of Isuzu Coco’s music through her twitter, her Galaxia voice is so different! Much deeper and more powerful. Poor Sayaka seemed to be sick during the Tokyo shows - her voice got progressively weaker and more hoarse. Hopefully she recovers by the finale! The set and visual effects dramatically improved with Amour Eternal and this musical continues that trend. Hotaru does some impressive running up and down moving stairs in her Eternal Moon costume, all of the attacks are projected, and we again have part of a scene projected as a video on stage. You’ll see all the Sailor Crystals float away, which adds another layer of emotion to those scenes. Both actresses playing Chibi Chibi were adorable, but Hinari won out as my favorite. Being a little older she was able to speak all of her lines clearly (Chise’s speech was muddled) and she showed a lot more emotion in both her movements and expressions. I’m glad she’ll be on the DVD performance. A few things were different each show (details in my spoilery post to come), so I hope some sort of compilation ends up on the DVD! There were lots of throwbacks to the Bandai era as well as a few references to the past Nelke era musicals. I think overall in tone this was a nice blend of the two styles - there was a lot of humor added and plenty of references to specific anime scenes, but the overall plot was manga oriented and gave proper weight to its serious moments. They find smart ways to keep the whole cast involved throughout the show, despite everyone being killed off pretty quickly (I don’t consider that a spoiler since it’s a manga plot point). Everyone is going to LOVE Cosmos. I was seriously shocked by how much Satomi had improved at singing. Taking lessons with Coco and Asami seriously paid off. They found a really touching way to give her a bit more story time than she had in the manga, and I think they’re quite clear about who she really is in this canon. This musical had a TON of original music - only two previously used songs made an appearance, and both in shortened versions. “Celestial Born” was made into it’s own song (it initially was part of “Shuketsu - Yume no Atsumaru Basho” during Amour Eternal) and “Music of the Spheres” is used briefly in battle. They save the throwback music mostly for the post-musical curtain call show, which I appreciated. For the first time since the revival of the musicals I loved ALL of the songs (Amour Eternal comes close). One of my few complaints has been the abundance of “talk singing,” where long lines of dialogue (often ripped straight from the manga) are set to awkward, stumbling melody. There is little to none of that this time, and far fewer songs are interrupted by long bits of dialogue. Hopefully sales of the Amour Eternal CD will be good enough to entice them to release another soundtrack - this time with a lot more music. They weren’t kidding when they said everyone has a moment to shine. I fell in love with Nyanko and Mouse, despite them having such small parts. Miraculously, even with all the dying and with an enormous cast, everyone was given enough to work with that they were able to truly embody their character. If this truly is the last musical, I’m going to be super bummed that this cast doesn’t get at least one more opportunity to show off how amazing they are.

#sera myu #le mouvement final

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