Ghost just rolled out the 25th chapter of their story and I’m pretty sure they killed Frater Imperator (formerly Papa Emeritus IV and Cardinal Copia). The video ends with Imperator walking out the door as Sex Pistols cover of Frank Sinatra‘s “My Way” plays, a truck drives by, the camera falls off its stand, and the credits are bloody as hell. That or Imperator just left, as he makes clear – but I’m guessing its the dead thing.
This also tracks, as Ghost mastermind Tobias Forge recently reflected on life outside the theatrical juggernaut he’s steered for the past 15 years.
Forge described the all-consuming nature of leading Ghost with a vivid metaphor in a February interview with Full Metal Jackie’s radio show: “Imagine you being a house builder, and you draw up houses, great ideas, but you’re also doing the permits and you’re also doing the tiles and you’re building everything and you’re sewing up all that [shit] and putting it all together,” he explained. “I don’t simply have an idea. And I’m out of tiles. I’m out of wood. I just don’t have it.”
For Forge, the solution is straightforward. “So the only way for me to come up with a new idea and get some new inspiration is to just step away. It is as simple as that.”
That doesn’t mean he’s disappearing creatively. The singer revealed he has “two film projects” in development and was recording another album with a different project just before heading out on tour. “I have tons of stuff lined up for me [for] the coming years,” he added.
Still, he acknowledged that for over a decade and a half, Ghost has been “force majeure” in his life. “Over the years I’ve been very worried about momentum and just keeping it going because I have so many ideas and I don’t wanna lose speed. And I just came to a point where I’m, like, I’m actually fine if the momentum is not there. It’s cool. I’m good. I feel good about that. If I lose it, okay.”
Forge also spoke candidly about the toll of long tours on his family. “There were a lot of moments where you had to sort of sneak out before they woke up and have one screaming child on the balcony… when you jump into the car. And that was not easy,” he said. “But when you’re driven by a conviction… I was convinced, and I am still convinced, that I did the right thing.”
Now that his children are 17, the dynamic has shifted. “Of course they know what I’m doing,” he said. “We’re very connected. We’re very good friends… And now they’re the ones sort of pushing me, like, ‘Yeah, it’s only three weeks left.'”
As Ghost‘s current era winds down, Forge says the timing feels right to recalibrate. “When I come back, we’ll start this new chapter, this new reality,” he said.
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