Satanized
Het Zweedse Ghost blijft gestaag de rock- en metalwereld veroveren. Waar de band aanvankelijk begon met geheimzinnige shows en duistere lyrics, is Ghost vandaag vooral geliefd omwille van haar theatrale liveshows en catchy sound.
Voor de eerste single van het nieuwe album Skeletá levert Tobias Forge opnieuw een aanstekelijke meezinger af, compleet met koorgezang en een solo die rechtstreeks uit 1985 lijkt te komen. Hoewel Satanized niet bijzonder vernieuwend is, blijft het trouw aan het unieke geluid die de band het afgelopen decennium heeft opgebouwd.
Het zesde album, Skeletá, verschijnt op 25 april en volgt het succesvolle Impera uit 2022 op. De band beschrijft het als hun meest introspectieve werk tot nu toe, met teksten die gelinkt zijn aan Forge's persoonlijke levenspad.
Zoals de traditie het wil, wordt bij elk nieuw album een nieuwe paus aangekondigd. Papa V Perpetua staat momenteel aan het roer en brengt een nieuwe stilistische visie met zich mee. Dit schept alvast hoge verwachtingen voor de tournee die op 22 april het Antwerpse Sportpaleis aandoet.
Skeletá komt uit op 25 april 2025 via Loma Vista Recordings.
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Swedish occult rockers GHOST will release their new album, "Skeletá", on April 25 via Loma Vista Recordings. The official music video for the LP's first single, "Satanized", can be seen below.
"Satanized" is described in a press release as "an avalanche of infectious hooks and harmonies is buoyed by a hypnotic shuffle, as the narrator succumbs to dark forces within and without, helplessly acknowledging their own blasphemy and heresy as it inexorably consumes them." By the time the song's opening lines "There is something inside me and they don't know if there is a cure" have moved from the inner monologue of the possessed to the ears of the hapless listener, it will already be too late: You will have been "Satanized".
The "Satanized" music video introduces the new character who will be fronting GHOST for its 2025 touring cycle: Papa V Perpetua.
GHOST's sixth psalm, "Skeletá", is its most unflinchingly introspective work to date. Where previous GHOST albums dealt largely with chronicling and/or observing outward facing subject matter — such as "Impera"'s meditations on the rise and fall of empires and its predecessor "Prequelle"'s evocations of the ravages of era-defining plagues — "Skeletá"'s lyrics render the distinct individual emotional vistas of each of its 10 songs in one-on-one fashion, at times as if in a dialogue with oneself in a mirror. The end result is a singular collection of timeless, universal sentiments, all filtered through a prism of a uniquely personal point of view.
GHOST has also launched an interactive element dubbed The Satanizer, a first-of-its-kind music video experience for fans who wish to be "Satanized." Developed in partnership with Jason Zada (Elf Yourself),The Satanizer will morph its users into characters featured in the song's melodramatic video. With a quick upload of your photo, The Satanizer will send out a personalized music video clip featuring the participant, who can in turn share via social media that they too have been "Satanized."
"Skeletá" track listing:
01. Peacefield02. Lachryma03. Satanized04. Guiding Lights05. De Profundis Borealis06. Cenotaph07. Missilia Amori08. Marks Of The Evil One 09. Umbra10. Excelsis
Papa V Perpetua's name was initially listed as one of the performers for BLACK SABBATH's final concert, set to take place on July 5 at Villa Park in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
GHOST also confirmed the singer's participation at the Villa Park event in a social media update, writing: "We wish to inform you V is coming… To Birmingham on July 5th."
GHOST mastermind Tobias Forge performed as a "new" Papa Emeritus on each of the band's first three LPs, with each version of Papa replacing the one that came before it. Papa Emeritus III was retired in favor of Cardinal Copia before the release of 2018's "Prequelle". In March 2020, at final show of GHOST's "Prequelle" tour in Mexico City, Mexico, the band officially introduced Papa Emeritus IV, the character who fronted the act for its "Impera" (2022) album phase.
Asked in a 2019 interview with Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio show how those different identities empower him as a performer, Forge said: "Speaking just for myself, I know that coming out onstage as another character, looking different, acting different, definitely allows for you to act and behave in a way that you wouldn't normally do. This can be both traumatic and also therapeutical in away.
"Even though it's been a long time since I practiced any sort of martial arts, I almost feel similar to myself back then, like after karate class. I did all kinds of things. I did judo, jiu-jitsu, tae kwon do and karate. After you are sort of cleansed from any sort of violent urges that you had. And in a way, I feel that way. Especially now when we play on our regular nights. When we play that long, any inkling that you have of wanting to dance and rock out is sort of over when you come off stage, which is very nice.
"One of the luxuries of being able to dress up for it and become a different character is that as soon as I am not that character anymore, no one expects me to behave the way that the character does onstage," he added. "No one expects me to be that way offstage. There's been a great handful of rock artists that have had a big problem differentiating themselves from their character onstage. And that leads to a lot of potential problems."
As previously reported, GHOST will embark on a world tour in 2025. The European leg of the trek will kick off on April 15 in Manchester, United Kingdom and conclude on May 24 in Oslo, Norway. The North American leg of GHOST's 2025 tour will launch on July 9 in Baltimore, Maryland and wrap up on August 16 in Houston, Texas.
BRON: Blabbermouth
