Given that Ghost’s award-winning 2022 LP – Impera – was highly successful critically and commercially, it’s no shock that mastermind Tobias Forge is already working on a proper follow-up. In fact, he recently told Metal Hammer that he’s already got “a few songs” ready to go amidst likening his process to that of a chef and championing the capabilities of outside writers.
In the latest issue of the magazine, Forge explains the connection between himself and various culinary artists [per Metal Hammer]:
I like to compare what I’m doing to being a chef. A chef with a few different interests and specialities. So you might start a few different restaurants – an Italian one, a Greek one, an Asian Fusion one. But what they all have in common is the seasoning and the decor and the interior design… the secret sauce. With me, each record, each new cycle, is a new restaurant, but I don’t have to sit with an empty paper and come up with something new every time because the secret sauce is the same. If it comes from my notebook, it will sound like Ghost.
Considering that Impera had six outside writers, it’s also not a big surprise that Forge finds it beneficial to have extra help in the studio. “What they all have in common is that they all come from a rock background,” he claims [via Metal Hammer], adding:
Peter [Svensson] from The Cardigans is an old hard rocker, Klas Åhlund [of Teddybears] is an old metalhead. These are friends of mine, and we’re very fluent together. I know that when I’ve taken an idea as far as I can, then they can go, “Maybe we can do this, maybe we could go that way…” All of a sudden, that opens my head. It becomes multi-dimensional. I think better when I have someone in the room that I trust. It makes me write better, because I get challenged.
Does that mean that Impera’s successor will also feature additional writers? We’ll just have to wait and see, as details regarding the record are sure to keep emerging as Forge and company get closer to completing and/or releasing it.
READ MORE: 10 Massive Rock + Metal Hits That Feature Outside Songwriters
Although Ghost put out a new EP – Phantomime – this past May, it consisted entirely of cover songs (of Television, Genesis, The Stranglers, Iron Maiden and Tina Turner). That same month, Forge told Loudwire Nights’ Chuck Armstrong that he knew “roughly what [the Impera follow-up is] going to be like,” continuing: “I think I know how it will be different from the previous one – I have a rough idea of scheduling and practically how I’m going to make it.”
Since then, Forge has also confirmed that Ghost is shooting a movie, and the band res-erect-ed their “Phallos Martuus” box set in honor of its 10th anniversary this past October.
Earlier this month, Ghost put out a new “greatest hits” compilation album – 13 Commandments – that features a song never before available on streaming services (“Zenith”). Other notable inclusions include “Square Hammer,” “Rats,” “Dance Macabre” and “Mary on a Cross.”
So, are you eager to hear what Ghost is cooking up next? Let us know!
There Are Only Seven Ghost Songs That Have Never Been Played Live
Ghost have played almost their entire catalog of original material live.
IMPORTANT: Cover songs are not included.
Gallery Credit: Joe DiVita
