{"id":16167,"date":"2019-02-28T05:30:11","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T10:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=16167"},"modified":"2026-07-10T09:59:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T13:59:51","slug":"the-paradox-of-ghost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/28\/the-paradox-of-ghost\/","title":{"rendered":"The Paradox of Ghost"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arising out of Sweden\u2019s vibrant metal scene in 2006, Ghost has carved out a unique place in the rock landscape. Fronted by songwriter and vocalist Tobias Forge, the band is populated by musicians known only as Nameless Ghouls (Forge\u2019s identity was only revealed in 2017). Wedding showmanship in the tradition of Alice Cooper to a finely-honed and highly polished musicality, Ghost brings together the best qualities of hard rock and theater.<\/p>\n

The first thing most will notice about Ghost is the band\u2019s visual aesthetic. The Nameless Ghouls wear masks and uniforms. Until recently, Forge performed in character as Papa Emeritus and Cardinal Copia, appearing onstage in mock-papal vestments festooned with inverted crosses. But while the anti-organized religion stance is genuine, Ghost\u2019s collective demonic persona is as much show business as anything else; ultimately it\u2019s all in service to the delivery of the band\u2019s music. Like a stage play, Ghost\u2019s music is designed to be emotionally manipulative.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cI want people to come to our show and have a cleansing,\u201d Forge explains. \u201cI want them predominantly to laugh and feel joy, but maybe even cry a little.\u201d The goal is for concertgoers to experience a full range of emotions. \u201cThere\u2019s that heavy element \u2013 one that that heavy metallers know \u2013 where there\u2019s a little bit of aggression, and I want that to be represented, too,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd at the end of the show, I want people to feel euphoric; I want them to go from the show having life affirmed.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Ghost concert, then, is a sort of communal event, one that\u2019s inviting to those who feel socially disenfranchised. \u201cHeavy metal, rock, goth and emo all have a tendency to be a magnet for persons \u2013 boys and girls \u2013 who are rather on the outside socially,\u201d Forge observes. \u201cI want them to find strength \u2013 not only through my music, but from all the things life has to offer \u2013 to make them feel better about themselves and want to live, prosper, and do something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Onstage, Ghost\u2019s Nameless Ghouls \u2013 a few guitarists, a couple of keyboardists, a bassist and drummer \u2013 deliver the musical firepower while Forge struts about the stage with finesse. Even though the show is meticulously choreographed, he engages with the audience. Stage performance is always in his mind when the songs are first being written, Forge says. \u201cI have a great deal of consideration for how they\u2019re going to be executed live.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes Forge might even avoid writing in a certain style because it isn\u2019t likely to fit into the stage show. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Ah, this part here, it won\u2019t sound good live.\u2019 There will be a drop in intensity there or the colors move in a wrong way.\u201d He laughs and mentions a self-indulgent song immortalized in the 1982 film This is Spinal Tap<\/i>. \u201cIf you want to do a really proggy, odd time signature, 19-minute, weird, \u2018Jazz Odyssey,\u2019 it\u2019s fun to play and it\u2019s fun to record,\u201d he says. \u201cBut it might not be very pleasant to listen to. And you might lose the crowd there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holding the attention of the audience is something that Ghost does exceedingly well. The band balances musicianship and spectacle. \u201cThe music is written in a way that doesn\u2019t allow for a lot of improvisation,\u201d Forge admits. \u201cBut I think that it\u2019s important that [the music is] not only correct; I prefer it if there\u2019s a little bit of a swagger and style in playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coupled with the anonymity of Ghost\u2019s members, Forge\u2019s vision for the band means that the lineup can (and does) change. Other than Tobias Forge, none of the current musicians (two of which likely are female) has been with Ghost more than a year or two.<\/p>\n

And Forge happily concedes that what Ghost does onstage is as much acting as it is playing music. \u201cObviously, we\u2019re following a script, but you can effect dramatic changes depending on the actor,\u201d he says. \u201cEven though they\u2019re performing the same line \u2013 even though I dictated what you are going to say \u2013 you\u2019ll get a different result depending on the actor.\u201d The overall desired result is clear. \u201cI want to contribute in any way to make people feel very happy about themselves,\u201d Forge says.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE for a second featured based on more of my conversation with Ghost’s Tobias Forge<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arising out of Sweden\u2019s vibrant metal scene in 2006, Ghost has carved out a unique place in the rock landscape. Fronted by songwriter and vocalist Tobias Forge, the band is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16168,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,46,49,62],"tags":[3732,3733],"class_list":["post-16167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","category-metal","category-new-release","category-rawk","tag-ghost","tag-tobias-forge","cat-41-id","cat-46-id","cat-49-id","cat-62-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16167"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31877,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16167\/revisions\/31877"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}