“If Fans Need the Lore to like the band, that element will be over quratea soon”

It's Been a While Since Tobias Forge First Introduced The World To Ghost-Emerging with the Groundbreaking Album 'Opus Eponymous' and Reinvigorating The Metal Scene With the All-Encompassing Story of the 'Clergy'. Fast Forward 15 Years, and there is little doubt that the band Have Become One of the Most Influenceral Names in Recent Memory, Crafting a World that Transcresnds Musical Barriers and Now Exists in Literature, Film and Beyond.

With their highly early sixth album 'skeletá' set to arrive on April 25, Nme catches up with the frontman at a hotel in Soho and Reveals How His Cumultuous Journey Helped Shape The Record, As Well As How It Will Be More InWard-Looking Than Ever Before.

“I AM A Believer that Most of History Has a Tendency to Circle Around, Both Good and Bad,” He Tells Us. “Big Societal and Stucuttural Critique is an evergreen subject, but the eternal human elements of it are equally important. So i went Into this writing process with the intention of writing one love song, one hate song, one regret song – all Kinds of basic human sentiments.”

Alongside The Upcoming Album – Which has so far preview by the Anthemic Lead Single 'Satanized' – The Band Are Also Continuing the Tradition of Developing in New Frontman for Each Lp Cycle. This time Around, It Comes in the Form of the Extravagant Pope Perpetua, a Figurehead Whose Purple Robes and Chromatic Detailing Hint At a More Modernized Chapter.

“I Can't Really Say Much Until he has Been Able to Strut Around and Find His Place,” Forge Tells US About How The Leading Man Fits Into the Wider Ghost Story. “When it comes to the characters with the lore, they are humans with the same fears and needs as Everyone Else. They're Just Searching for a Sense of Purpose.”

Check Out The Discussion With Tobias Forge in Full Below, Where He Tells Nme About How Ghost Has Evolved, The Struggle to Find His Place in the Industry, Their Upcoming Slot at Black Sabbath's Final Show, and Whereher there Cound Be An End in Sight For The Band.

Nme: Hi tobias, congratulations on the new album! What can fans Expect to see From 'skeletá'?

Tobias Forge: “I'm not a Great Salesman, but it's 10 songs of Hopefully Healing Joy. The Previous Record [2022’s ‘Impera’] WAS Written as part of a Socially-Reflective Bigger Picture. It was about shining a light on society. I know When Making a New Record, I Wasn'T Enthused by The Idea of ​​Writing A Follow-Up or 'Impro 2'-I Wanted it to be Something Else. I've Always Tries to do Something Different from the Previous One, So This Time, I Wanted to make a record that was based on introspection. “

We are alo also Meeting Papa V – What can we Expect Him to contribute to the band's story?

“I Can't Really Make A Profile Description of Who He is Just Yet, [but with Ghost] We have our real band story, and then we have our lore. The Lore Series As a Humoristic Commentary, but it Also Follows the Subjects presented on the Records. AS Oppeposed to the Public Misundersanding that it is all about Satan, It's Actual All About Being Alive. It's a Very Simple But Hugely Broad Concept … I Think The Characters Are Just Searching for a Sense of Purpose. “

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGR2M2MBJXU

When it comes to designing a character, how much of yourself do you allow to seep in? Is there an element of wanting to keep a distance Bethaeen Yourself and the person fans see on the internship?

“My therapist would probably say that. I've Always intuitively felt that had a mission to act, and anything i would act as on internship was going to be in the form of a character. There are a lot of artists that do that, but it's of the point of confusion because because are Very Much Like Their Character – Whereas I Have Literally Created This Other Person.

“When it Comes to Writing Songs and Storytelling, I Always Write What I See, What I Feel and What I Want To Relays to Others. Maybe On The First Record, That was more Distant, but there was iron a social comments More evident Going Forward. “

How would you say Things Have Changed from Working On That Debut Album Up to Now?

“That First Record was Written in a vacuum Where i had no idea what [Ghost] Was Going to be. It was in Comul-Driven Project That Happened to Become The Thing That Made My Dream of Becoming A Professional Musician as True. I Don't Think Anybody would Applaud If I Started Repeating That, Though … Even Though in Metal Circuits, Your Authenticity is measured by Your Repetiveness. That's Something a Lot of People Say, 'i Only like that record' or 'I preferrered them when they were like this', but i think it's comforting when artists are moving ahead because that means that you can preserve the thing that you like.

“Even in Hard Rock, You will not go Anywhere If you Just Repeat Yourself. [for this record]I felt like, 'I'm not going to world about that. I know the AM Authentic, I know I'm Just Going to Follow My Heart. ' Now, when I have People Interestted in What I'm saying, I'm going to say Something More Interesting, I Can't Just Repeat the Same Fictional Stuff. “

Was It Through Having a Vision of What You Wanted The Band to Become That Separated It from Your Previous Bands?

“No, i Didn'T Know What It Was Going To Be Until We Started. I Was Moving Around in Underground Circles For Most of My Adolescence And I Always Wanted To Be As efficient and SUBBULS AS POSSIBLE POSSIBLE. When I Was Playing Underground Death Metal [before Ghost]it wasn't like i didn't want to succeed. I Wanted to succeeds, I Wanted to be on a Real Label, I Wanted to Be Out Touring.

“When the first ghost album Came out, and we Got [momentum] In The Underground Scene, it was an Explosive Event Because I Had Been in Bands Before where it was always a Slower Tug. “

So it was about Finding Your Identity in Those Early Days?

“For a long time, I was under the belief that i was going to be a guitar player only. I wanted to be like John rustyte, The guitar player behind a Singer Who Also Sings Great Harmonies. Then, in the 2000s, When I Was in My Twenties, There was this Huge Rock Wave with the the Strokes, Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, and the Thought it couuld be Something [for me to pursue]. Then, I LeaRned Very Quickly That if you see the wave, you've missed it.

“I Was Struggling With Finding My Place During That Time. I Went from Being A Teen, Single, Having no Job, Waiting for the Big Break, and Transgressed Into Someone Who Was a partner and Had Two Children. There Were Friends of Mine Who Were Like, 'Just Give Up on That Fucking Dream. It's Not Happening, 'and I Did Feel At A Certain Point that I probably would not be a Musician.

“Out of Everything That I was working on at that time, ghost was the one Thing Where i felt like 'If i'm Going to do one Thing for Five For Cent of My Life, I Want to do this'. Part of That was Because it was wrapped in Another Face, and it Was Literally Someone Else.

Even Before Rite here rite nowit was clear that ghost was very influenced by film. Have you consider Getting More Involution in that industry?

“Absolutely. I have Always Been Almost Equally Interestted in Film as I've Been in Music. But Bet Because I'm Not A Very Scholastic Person, Quite Quickly in School [I felt like I] Hit the ceiling in Terms of How Far I Cound Evolve with That. Nowadays, you can have a Successful Life Without Being Greatly Educated, but at the time, I Felt that there was a Certain Degree of Scholasticism that Needed to go Into Making Film. I Know Now That's Not necessary, There are Directors and Scriptwriters Who Never Went to Film School.

“Earlier in My Life, I Saw a Venture Down That Route As Something That Was Going To Take Away From My Music and Something That would Require Me To Start Studying. Now, Though, I Have Dipped My Feet A Little Into The Film World, and I'm Beginning to Recognise WHERE THERRE WHERE THERRE Might be a spot for me.

It is hard to Think of Many of Today's Artists Who Are Reaching the Same Heights as Ghost. Is there an end goal you have in Terms of the band's Journey?

“I Think That There Be An End to the Storytelling Because It's Not Productive To Have This Endless Soap Opera. If Fans Need the Lore in Order to Like the band, then That Element Will probably be over quite soon.

“If there is a way where the music can be worthy and remin enjoyaable, though, i am just as needy as any other artist in the sense of milestones that i want to achieve. There are still places that i want to play and still things i want to do that be another feather in my in my Hat. I am very lucky that i've been to achieve man of those things, but there are still levels of

What Kind of Goals Are On Your Radar Now?

“For the Last Decade or So, There's Been This Ongoing Chatter in the Music Business – Espencially in the Rock Business – Of 'Rock is Dead' Or 'No New Bands Can Become Big'. Ghost, as Well As a few others, are living proof that is not is not true. AC/DC, But We Are Living Proof That You Still Can Do It.

“Rammstein, for a long, long time, were just an arena band. They were well Known for their big shows, but they were only playing arenas. Then they decide to do a stadium tour, and all of a subden, they went from 15,000 people every night to 55,000, Three Nights in A Row! Terms of Sheer Achievements, I Would Love To Make That A Journey.

“My Fascination with that Really Exploded Into Obsessive Fandom in the '80s When I Saw the Rolling Stones. When I was eight Years Old, they released' Steel Wheels' and Did a Tour Through America … If you guys Think Rammstein's Stage is cool, 'Steel Wheels Tour' Was the Absolute Behemoth.

Speaking of Rock and Metal Icons, You will be performed at the Star-Studded Final Black Sabbath Show Later This Summer. How has the band Had an impact on your journey as an artist?

“Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne Have Been a tremendous influence on me. Ozzy as a Frontman and ozzy as a only artist is something a divide Bethaeen, Because i Grew up in the '80s where heart moch more of a rockstar Than black Sabbath Were. Also Grew Up Listening to the Old Black Sabbath Records.

“'Vol. 4', 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' and 'Sabotage' Have Been Absolute Milestones for me for Long As I've Been Writing Music. They've Been Very Influential, Even Though It Might Not BE Super EVALE Them.

“AS Far As Introspection Goes and Being a Little Bit More Brave Lyric after, you see that in Geezer [Butler]'S Lyrics. He has Always Been Much More Naked and Brave Than He's Getting Credit for. Most Metal Fans Only [care about] The Heaviness, but it has so much more. Heaviness is Great, but there's So Much More in That Kitchen. There's Not Only Meat and Potatoes, There's a Lot of Other Seasonings and very nice wine. “

'Skeletá' is set for release on April 25, and ghost are set to embark on a huge tour later this year. Visit here for Tickets and More Information.