I wanted to talk a little about the rock/metal band ghost. I’m fighting mosquito bites while at the gym trying to better myself and really need a distraction.

I was lucky enough to catch them in a small club when the band was starting out during the Infestissumam tour. A lot of metalheads appreciated what they were doing at that time. The band had deep influences in bands like black sabbath, blue oyster cult, blue cheer and iron butterfly. A few modern bands also have this similar song, particularly Uncle Acid and the deadbites who I’ve come to really love.

The singer Tobias came from a death metal background (the band Repugnant) with the moniker “Mary goore” and the imagery of ghost was nothing new coming from that vein. Dead popes were constantly portrayed by artists like mark riddick all over the genre. Later he would reference his time in the “underground” scene and moving on from it in the song “Mary on a cross”.

The later albums have clear reference and inspiration to other seventies and eighties artists like whitesnake, deep purple, kiss, journey, van halen, def leppard (joe Elliot also appears on a song), and poison. Later there was clear influence from eighties and modern pop music (including a remix by carpenter brut). With their latest album they did a worldwide midnight release supporting small record stores.

In the flipside, Ghost has become very disliked by general audiences. There’s not really any escaping that. I think a lot of people forget the roots of heavy metal, dislike exploration and remain rooted/boxed into extremely aggressive music (I do too, to a degree). Most social media posts about ghost are flooded with the same old criticisms and jokes ad nauseum- Their image might also be considered “fake”. Metalheads get -really- up in arms about other bands. This is a problem with making other artists work part of your image, it becomes ingrained into who you are, because any change or risk by others might be taken as an affront to you personally… but to me playing live in costume and going through “eras” are also part of a musical experience. I love Alice Cooper, WASP, merciful fate, KISS, a few lordi albums and even Kabuki theatre. At the same time ghost feels like it could fit right into the animated film HEAVY METAL’s ost, alongside Dio’s black sabbath, cheap trick and Stevie Nicks. It’s all just a huge celebration and blend of rock, pop and metal. That’s really what it’s all about for me. (To this day i still pick up the magazine when I can at my local comic and game store. Check it out, the art and stories inside are also incredible).

I think Tobias Forge will inevitably go back into his roots with carcass in new music (whether it’s related to ghost or not). Everyone needs a break. He had a very telling interview with Canada’s own Nardwuar where he was very excited about D-beat music, his home country and underground music.

If you dislike or don’t know the band, I encourage you to give them a(nother) shot- if you like heavier or atmospheric music, give Repugnant a shot… however we all have our own preferences, so try to have fun :P