There are two sides to every story. Many of us have been waiting to hear a response from Papa Emeritus (Tobias Forge) after the recent lawsuit between him and four former Nameless Ghouls, who are no longer nameless. We saw last week that despite the pressure from this news, the Swedish band Ghost continues to perform live with the new lineup. We don’t know the full story nor exactly how many times the band’s lineup changed over the years. At this point, it’s like playing a game connect the dots to discover the truth. In a brand new interview with radiometal, we hear from Papa Emeritus himself and his response is a bit surprising. According to him, there wasn’t really an official band formation.
The interview was in French and we were able to translate as much as we could via Google translate.
Asked about Martin Persner revealing his identity as a Nameless Ghoul:
“It was basically what I expected, so it was not a big shock. There is not much more to say [laughs]. It was perfectly in line with my expectations.”
Forge was asked what motivated the decision for a new lineup:
“I can not tell you the whole story but without going into the details, the whole thing, and it’s a fact, is that Ghost was never formed as a band and his first line-up was formed After the first album was recorded, and it was only a live line-up. And from this line-up, it has changed many times. If you have been following us since we started performing in concert in October 2010, you will have noticed that there have been many changes over the years. None of the line-up people who were active in November last year played on Opus Eponymous, for example, know [laughs]. We never formed the band together, it was always, I suppose, a band in the Bathory, Where there were people who played live and the people who played live were not necessarily the same who played on the albums. On Opus and Meliora, there is a drummer who has never played live with us, for example. For my part, there has never really been … What some fans seem to think is not true. So, for me, the fact is that a time will come when people will discover that what they say or think is not correct, it is not based on the truth, but it suits me, No problem, no worries!”
The interview moved on from the lineup changes to asking about the band’s next album:
“You can expect forty-five minutes of music on vinyl [laughs]. No, actually, I’m going to record all through the fall and the new album will be released within a year from today. It will be a darker album, it’s a bit of an idea, because the album takes place at a time I suppose full of people, especially in Europe, have found completely apocalyptic, and this period has made a lot of But it also led the continent to prosper after the fact. It is an album that will be completely impregnated by death, but it will also be an album on survival. Combining these two things is my driving force in the design of this album. Because it will be dark but there will be … You know, in order to really, really see the darkness, we need light, So as to have a reference and know to recognize the darkness. It is my vocation today, make this album.”
Check out the rest of the interview here.
