It’s incredible to have seen the explosion of popularity Ghost has received in real time.
I was introduced to Ghost by my friend Caroline in 2018. She knew I was into everything spooky and turned me onto this incredibly unique band that she had seen when a friend of hers had an extra ticket. My initial thought was “These guys must be heavy as hell” as I looked at the band’s imagery and appearance. Much to my surprise Ghost isn’t a super heavy black metal band like most of the Swedish metal bands I had encountered in the past. Ghost’s sound is all over the place, varying from album to album. As I dove deep into Ghost’s catalog I found myself more and more invested and Ghost very quickly rose to the top of my list of bands to see live. In 2019 I finally got the chance driving to the Illinois/Iowa border to see Ghost at the Tax Slayer Arena in Moline, IL. Ever since I have completely fallen in love with Ghost’s catalog of music, seeing the band multiple times on tour every year since, and gained an undying appreciation for the ever expanding sound Tobias Forge has given the world.
Ghost first two albums (2010’s Opus Eponymous and 2013’s Infestissumam) can stand shoulder to shoulder with acts like Venom and Black Sabbath. However as Ghost sounds evolved the edginess of their music seemed to refine into a cleaner sound that I can only describe as “Satanic ABBA.” 2015 and 2018 brought Meliora and Prequelle to Ghost’s catalog, and Ghost their first Grammy win for Best Metal Performance at the 2016 Grammy Awards for Meliora‘s “Cirice.” In 2022 Ghost’s sound again pivoted to more of a heavy arena rock sound with Impera the band’s latest album release. In addition to these 5 studio albums Ghost boasts a wide variety of EPs of both original and cover songs. Most popular being 2019’s Seven Inches of Satanic Panic that contains “Mary on a Cross” that went viral on social media platforms in the summer of 2022. Other releases like 2013’s If You have Ghost and 2023’s Phantomime compiled covers from acts such as ABBA, Depeche Mode, Eurythmics, Echo & the Bunnyman, Genesis, Television and Tina Turner.
With the viral success of “Mary on a Cross” Ghost’s popularity has skyrocketed leading to entirely new sets of ears getting to listen to Ghost for the first time. One of the most popular aspects of the band is their constantly “changing” lead singers. Every studio album has been fronted by a different “Papa.” Starting with Opus Eponymous Ghost was fronted by Papa Emeritus, who was followed by Papa Emeritus II ahead of their second album’s release. Ahead of Meliora‘s release Papa Emeritus II was fired and replaced by Papa Emeritus III. In 2017 Papa Emeritus III was dragged off stage and an elderly Papa appeared to usher in the beginning of the dark ages with the debut of Prequelle‘s lead single “Rats” where the world was introduced to the group’s new lead singer Cardinal Copia. The elderly Papa Nihil would later join the band on saxophone. In 2019 at the end of a tour Cardinal Copia was mobbed by the Nameless Ghouls to be revealed to have ascended to Papa Emeritus IV, the only front man to last 2 cycles in Ghost’s studio releases. Papa IV has fronted the band ever since but tomorrow night that all may change with the release of Ghost’s first live concert movie Rite Here Right Now!
Rite Here Rite Now will take footage from two Ghost performances at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California in September 2023 and string them along an overarching narrative in Ghost’s lore. Rite Here Rite Now will serve as entry into the band’s web series in their YouTube page. I highly recommend watching these before Rite Here Rite Now to get a sense of what story is unfolding before you. Ghost has never had concrete lore behind them and a lot is left up to fan speculation. The band’s record label asked what their story was and from that conversation came the web series that would ultimately lead us to Rite Here Rite Now. On the eve of Rite Here Right Now’s release many are speculating as to what fate Papa Emeritus IV will meet by the film’s conclusion as the next Ghost album has all but been confirmed.
Fan speculation has always been fun to read. There are so many interesting ideas and some that are so stupid I can’t help but laugh. I’ve read and heard everything from Papa Emeritus V being a drag queen in pink robes, to a robot in the same style as the cover of Phantomime, to Papa V being a Frankenstein’s Monster of the other 4 previous Papas. I’ve also seen the speculation that Papa IV is here to stay, much to delight of some fans that have grown attached to this particular Papa. Will we get answers tomorrow night? or will we be left with more questions as the world of Ghost and the Dark Ministry further evolves on a cinematic level.
Rite Here Rite Now will haunt cinemas June 20th, and 22nd across the world.