Ghost are the rare band that formed in the past 15 years to graduate to arena headliners. In fact, the Swedish metal act is about to embark on its latest massive tour, playing North American arenas with support from Mastodon and Spiritbox.
The outing kicks off Friday (August 26th) in San Diego, and runs through a September 23rd show in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with tickets available via Ticketmaster. The new run follows up an early 2022 US tour that saw Ghost co-headlining with Volbeat, and playing their first shows since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the concert industry.
Heavy Consequence caught up with Ghost mastermind Tobias Forge (aka Papa Emeritus IV) to discuss the band’s return to the road, their latest album, IMPERA (released in March of this year), and whether the wheels are already in motion for the the next LP.
While the appearance of Papa Emeritus IV and his masked ghouls is quite sinister, Forge unapologetically embraces an arena rock sound on IMPERA, calling to mind ’70s and ’80s acts like Kansas, Styx, and Boston, among others. As Forge tells us, the plan from early on was to sound like “a devil-worshipping Kansas.”
The band is in full promotion cycle for the new album, but Forge reveals to us that he already has a game plan for the next one, and that it will be “very different” from IMPERA.
In advance of Ghost’s outing with Mastodon and Spiritbox, read our interview with Tobias Forge below, and pick up tickets to the tour here.
