#copias really being bullied by the ghouls this tour

[cardi-c]

you’ve been aethered

[copiasghoulfriend]

Per Aspera Ad Inferi

Here is a story that I am currently working on! It's really bad but I've been dying with these ideas ... and I'm going to produce a masterpiece. I will upload this first chapter to AO3 in the morning.. so Tumblr.. you get to see it first. PLEASE don't bully me -- it's bad. The Italian is based from the translator so I can't promise if anything is correct! PLEASE ENJOY! ❤️

TW: Mentions of Cheating, Bullying -- just please be cautious!

Chapter One:

Copia and Terzo’s favorite thing to do besides performing was watching how beautifully the Sisters sang during their class time. They both had their favorite sisters and it was blatantly obvious. They would constantly talk in Italian so no one else knew what they were talking about. The best thing about this freshman class of Sisters - they were all diverse and no one looked the same. One sister in particular was Ellie - she was shorter than the rest of the girls. She had multi-colored hair that was short and shaggy. Her appearance was quite beautiful with her larger features that both attracted the two men.

“Cardinale, che ne dici di quella sorella Ellie (Cardinal, how about that sister Ellie). Eh?” Terzo whispered into Copia’s ear with a smug look on his face.

“È davvero stupenda. La sua voce suona come un angelo. Una delle mie sorelle preferite. (She's very gorgeous. Her voice sounds like an angel. One of my favorite Sisters.)” Copia replied with a grin on his face.

“Un adorabile Ghoul mi ha detto che quando è arrivata per la prima volta ha avuto un'avventura con il nostro caro fratello. (One lovely Ghoul told me that when she first arrived that she had a fling with our dear brother).” Terzo replied leaning back in his chair.

“Terzo, non voglio sentir parlare della tua vita sessuale. Per favore, tienilo per te. (Terzo, I don't want to hear about your sex life. Please keep it to yourself.)” Copia replied, rolling his eyes.

“Cardinale, il nostro caro fratello ha avuto una storia con la sorella. Quando lei è arrivata era in un brutto momento e hanno subito legato. Lei ha tirato fuori il meglio di lui: era finalmente avvicinabile. Detto tra noi, la prego, cardinale, non lo ripeta. Secondo l'ha tradita durante il loro ultimo ciclo di tournée.Lo scoprì da un'altra sorella e non lo perdonò mai. Sono passati alcuni mesi e lui spera ancora che lei gli conceda un po' di tempo. Si assicura costantemente che lei stia bene e che si sia sistemata. Grazie ai nostri adorabili ghoul. Sembra adorabile, forse le piacerebbe uno di noi? Eh? Forse non è il tuo tipo, ma è sicuramente il mio. (Cardinal, our dear brother had a fling with the sister. When she arrived she was in a bad place and they instantly connected. She brought out the best in him - he was finally approachable. Between us, please cardinal, don't repeat this. Secondo cheated on her during their last tour cycle. She found out from another sister and she never forgave him. It's been a few months and he still hopes that she'll give him the time of day. He constantly makes sure that she's okay and settled. Thanks to our lovely ghouls. She seems lovely, maybe she would go for one of us? Eh? She may not be your type but she's definitely mine.)” Terzo whispered, eyeing Ellie hard.

Ellie made direct eye contact with Copia and a blush filled her cheeks before she looked away. Mary, who was very popular, was constantly bullying her and today was the last straw that Terzo or Copia could handle. They both heard Mary abuse Ellie and degraded her. She grabbed her backpack that was behind the stage and ran out of the room. Copia looked at Terzo sadly and sighed.

“Mary, what the fuck are you doing? Do you want to be…eh.. Kicked out of the program? You’re so damn close. Stop being rude to Sister Ellie.” Terzo spoke loudly as he stood up from his chair.

Terzo was usually never upset about Sisters beating each other up. It was strange he seemed really interested in her life story as well. Copia was confused about his change of actions. But, Copia decided that he would worry about that later and go check out Ellie.

Copia looked high and low for her but eventually found her out in the courtyard under a tree. She looked extra beautiful in the sunlight with the wind gently toying with her hair. He watched her for a bit before slowly approaching. When finally in her space, he cleared his throat to catch her attention.

“H-hello.. E-Ellie I came to.. Eh…. make sure you’re okay? Do you mind if I sit?” He said softly implying to sit next to her.

“Of course, Cardinal. I’m okay, not doing great but thank you for checking on me. It means alot. But, confused on why I was the subject between you and Terzo?” She replied sitting up straight.

“You… u-understood our conversation? Oh goodness, I’m sorry! I didn’t know you …” He stuttered quickly.

“Secondo was teaching me until that happened. So, yes I understood every single word.” She replied with a sad tone.

Her attention was drifting towards the Emeritus balcony. Secondo was up there with a Sister. Copia could see her expression change drastically. She frantically gathered her things and shot herself up. 

“My apologies, Cardinal. Excuse me.” She said turning around quickly and disappearing back into the abbey.

He watched Secondo with the Sister for several minutes and studied their body language. The face of the sister was what shocked him the most. Whatever he felt at this point had to be buried because fighting Secondo was not an option, at least for Copia. The pair were kissing each other and that’s when Copia decided he had enough. He took a single deep breath and got himself off the ground. His mind raced as he walked helplessly down the halls in the abbey. Copia accidentally ended up at the doorstep of Secondo. His leathered fist was about to knock on the door when it suddenly opened. A small sister came rushing out with tears down her cheeks and bite marks on her neck.

“Excuse me, Mary.” Copia said, moving out of the way and catching Secondo’s gaze.

“Entra, cardinale. Ho la sensazione che parleremo di una certa Sorella. (Come on in, Cardinal. I have a feeling we're going to talk about a certain Sister.).” He harshly said, turning around to gaze out the giant window facing the courtyard.

“Non voglio invadere la tua privacy... ma perché l'hai tradita? Perché dovresti fare qualcosa di così... peccaminoso? (I don't want to invade your privacy.. but why did you cheat on her? Why would you do something so... sinful?)” Copia replied, closing the door with some force.

“Cardinale, non mi aspetto che tu capisca. Alla fine sarebbe successo. Ma non volevo che accadesse così in fretta. Che tu ci creda o no, l'amavo. Sì, eravamo fottuti amici. Ma .. questo vecchio ha coltivato sentimenti. Non si adatta bene qui come speravo. Che Suor Mary otterrà ciò che le spetta. Ellie, oh mia cara Ellie... spero che si innamori di te o di Terzo. (Cardinal, I don't expect you to understand. It was going to happen eventually. But, I didn't mean for it to happen so quickly. Believe it or not, I loved her. Yes, we were fuck buddies. But.. this old man grew feelings. She doesn't fit as well here as I hoped. That Sister Mary will get what's coming for her soon. Ellie, oh my dear Ellie... I hope she falls in love with yourself or Terzo.)” He spoke with a monotone still facing the window. “Adesso, per favore, vattene dai miei alloggi. Dì al mio stupido fratello di comportarsi bene con lei. (Now, please get the fuck out of my quarters. Tell my dumb brother to behave with her).

Copia did as he was told and closed the door slowly behind him. He took multiple deep breaths and let everything he found out sink in. The dinner bell had started ringing and he made his way to the dining hall slowly. The hall was already full with sisters and brothers with the emeritus family at the head of the room. He nodded to the sisters as he approached the long table with Primo and Terzo filling their glasses with wine. Copia had a spot next to Terzo on the end and watched all the sisters mingle with each other.

“Where’s…Ellie? Have you seen her?” Terzo asked while slowly scanning the room.

“I haven’t seen her since she ran off earlier. Secondo was being…eh…chatty with Mary on that balcony of his.” Copia replied, fixing the napkin on his lap.

The hall doors opened slowly and Ellie walked in awkwardly looking around with swollen eyes. She headed for the food trays but my eyes shot across the room to where Mary stood up with her gang of Bullies. Copia swallowed hard because he knew something was about to happen. Mary and Ellie slowly approached each other and I slowly looked at Terzo. They couldn’t hear what was being said but the loud bang of the food tray caught both of their attention. Terzo stood up immediately and saw Ellie on the ground as she wore her dinner. Mary and her friends walked away laughing and caused an uproar in the hall. The laughs echoed off the tall walls and flooring. Copia and Terzo both caught Ellie’s eyes as she slowly wiped tears and food from her face.

[thelampisaflashlight]

Some ghoul thoughts on this restless evening. Below the cut.

-Dew can and will befriend any raven or crow he meets, purely because he learned that 1.) It was possible, and 2.) That they have decent memories and can recall faces pretty well. He had a hard time adjusting to life on the surface, so making a couple feathered friends was something that helped him grow more comfortable with his new home.

He has one bird that comes by and visits him the same way crows visit their parents, because he raised it from an egg and he’s very fond of it even though its name is probably something rude.

Dew doesn’t consider his birds pets, and doesn’t try to keep them if they don’t want to stay, but he does keep an eye out for them, and he swears he can tell which bird is which and that, “No, Aether, that’s not Stabby, that’s Crisp Munch, Crisp Munch is a lady and I cannot believe you would say she looks anything like crusty old Stabby-” It’s a whole thing.

-Mountain used to get picked on in the depths a lot until he got bigger than his bullies and started looming over them ominously. He didn’t even really have to fight them after that, he just needed to make himself look bigger and viola.

He still doesn’t take lightly to being teased though, and you will know if he’s annoyed with you.

-Swiss likes to see how many things he can stack on top of people while they’re sleeping before they notice and wake up. However, his shenanigans are not limited to the other ghouls, in fact this tends to be the fate of some poor clergy member who fell asleep in the wrong place.

-Copia knows pretty much nothing about ghoul biology, and yet none of the ghouls have noticed or called him out on this yet. He just guesses and gets it right most of the time.

Once, he bullshitted his way through explaining ghouls’ tail language, like, “Oh, yeah, when it moves like that, that means they’re feeling lethargic or sick.” and he turned out to be right and the other ghouls were like, “How did you know?? We didn’t even notice???”

They think he’s some kind of ghoul whisperer at this point.

-Ghouls are pretty durable creatures, but they’re still susceptible to the same illnesses that plague humans. Surface ghouls are a little more immune to them than others, but depths ghouls are known to get pretty ill during their first year after being summoned, so it’s a general rule of thumb not to stick a new ghoul into a group until they’ve properly acclimatized.

-Sometimes, if a ghoul is injured or feeling unwell, they’ll purr, kind of like how a cat does, and sort of seclude themselves from the others. However, some ghouls will seek out other ghouls and initiate a sort of healing cuddle session full of loud purring.

And lastly;

-Copia counts how many ghouls he has every night on tour, because it annoys them, like, “It’s not like there’s going to be another one, and we would know if someone was missing!”

Except once or twice, there has been a new ghoul in the mix or someone missing and everyone kind of does a double take. This is kind of how they ended up with Dew.

[ultraintrovertedgryffindor]

Mr. Stompy (aka Dewdrop)

...I have a problem 😅

With all the stomps™ that the little gremlin does, I’m honestly kinda shocked he hasn’t at least twisted his ankle. Well, I guess we wouldn’t know anyway *shrug*

~~~~~~~~~~

The fire Ghoul is most commonly known for one thing: being an absolute raging firecracker on stage.

Gremlin, Volcano, Stompy. All nicknames given to Dewdrop over the years, and he loved it.

He loved all the attention he got when he did anything remotely entertaining, such as licking his fingers, and especially stomping his foot on the floor.

Typically, no one really gets any major injuries on stage. Only the occasional bruise or scrape, or a Papa falling off the stage sometimes. But no serious harm ever coming from it.

Until the last show of the tour.

Being the last show for awhile, Dewdrop wanted to go all out. He wanted to be so energetic that he’d have to be carried to the tour bus. He wanted to make the fans happy, as if he didn’t make them happy anyway.

He did an exceptional amount of his usual antics. Licking his picks, hands, fingers, even his guitar. Bullied Aether a lot. Teased Copia. Epic duels. And of course, his stomps.

It was the last song, Monstrance Clock. As per usual.

Dewdrop stomped his little heart out, up until the last part of the song.

He kept stomping as he played the awesome riffs. Then he heard a sickening crack. Then started to feel searing pain in his foot that traveled all the way up his leg.

He faltered for a moment, trying to resister what had just happened. He realized that he stomped a bit too hard, bringing his foot down the wrong way.

He tried shaking it off and continued playing. Dewdrop was shocked that nobody noticed the pause of his lead guitar, even if it was just for a fraction of a second.

A part of him wanted to keep up his attitude, but he knew he’d regret it and probably make the pain worse.

But he got through the song, did his bows with the rest of the band.

As soon as they were out of sight from the crowd, Dewdrop dropped to the floor with a whimper, catching everyone’s attention.

He lifted up his pant leg, revealing a swollen red ankle. “That can’t be good...”

Copia let out an audible squeal, being one of the more squeamish of the band. “That doesn’t look right!” He exclaimed.

“Yeah, no shit.” Dewdrop sassed, rolling his eyes subtlety.

“We need to get you to a fuckin’ doctor!” Swiss voiced.

“I’ll carry him!” Aether said, starting to walk over to the injured Ghoul.

Dewdrop immediately hissed. “Don’t you fucking touch me, nerd!”

Aether ignored Dewdrop’s curses and threats, picking up the smaller Ghoul with ease. “Put me down, piece of angel shit!” Dew squirmed.

“Now, now, is that any way to talk to a friend who’s trying to help you?” Aether smiled.

Aether could almost see the smoke coming out of Dew’s ears. “Fuck you...” He mumbled, pouting and crossing his arms.

Dewdrop eventually quit trying to get out of Aether’s arms, making his own fun by smacking his tail on Aether’s face.

“Yep, that’s a broken ankle if I’ve ever seen one.” The doctor said.

The doctor surprisingly made it out alive with only a few cuts after having to reset the Ghoul’s broken ankle. Plus, having to put on a cast.

The next couple months consisted of all the Ghouls taking turns babysitting the fire Ghoul, to make sure he didn’t tear off his cast.

Then a few more months after his ankle was finally healed, it was about the time that another tour theme was in the works.

“I’m excited for this tour, dude.” Dewdrop grinned.

“No more fucking stomping on stage!” Aether fussed.

“No promises.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Something I’ve noticed that I thought I’d share is Dewdrop’s stage presence. Like, you can tell how much he loves his job and frankly, it’s fucking adorable. The way he moves and sways to the music. The way you can tell that he mouths along to the song (or at least, it looks like he does or wants to). Especially during Cirice.  It’s like he can feel it in his soul.

It’s great.

[the-red-cassock]

Ghost History Class:

This is a revision of my last breakdown. Being Nameless Ghouls you can't tell who is who and its frustrating as hell. I had a lot of help from @unholykazoo but I think I nailed it this time. So, there are 4 Ghost Era's, one for each album.

Era #1: Opus Eponymous

Oct. 2010 - Aug. 2012

Papa Emeritus or Papa Emeritus i and the Nameless Ghouls. They wear an all black uniform with hoods. No masks or alchemic symbols. They changed to an all white uniform with a sharp featured mask, but had to throw it out for obvious reasons.

Lead guitar {Fire}: far stage left/ white guitar with small triangle sticker on pick guard/ scampers and makes naughty gestures with his fingers/ average height & build/ thick accent (2010 - )

Rhythm guitar {Ether/ Quintessence}: far stage right/ black or black and brown guitar with Omega sticker/ STOMPS all the fucking time HARD/ average height/ thicker build/ accent/ wears thick banded rings (2010 - )

Bass guitar {Water}: upstage center/ white guitar with no symbol/ a bit shorter/ slimmer build (2010 - 2011)

Bass guitar {2nd Water} same white bass guitar/ can't really tell them apart (2011 - )

Drums {Earth}: upstage right/ average height/ average build/ piercing blue eyes/ noticeable accent (2010 - )

Keyboard {Air}: upstage left/ stands at the keyboard [uncommon]/ HUGE he's the tallest/ devil horns with his fingers/ always standing ominously in the background (2010 - ) [i know that's prob not Air in black but that's as good as it gets]

Era #2: Infestissumam

Dec. 2012 - Sept. 2014

Papa Emeritus II is a mean looking son of a bitch. The Ghouls kept the same idea from the white uniform, but went with black instead. They now wear their alchemic symbols to give us a break.

Lead / Fire: starts being referred to as Alpha primarily to counterpart Omega.

Rhythm / Ether: starts being referred to as Omega primarily because of the sticker/ ALSO called Quintessence

Bass / Water #2: (- 2013)

Bass / Water #3: black bass guitar/ tall/ huge hands (2013 - 2014)

Drums / Earth #1: said in an interview he likes to play songs where he can flail around because it makes him feel flamboyant

Keyboard/ Air #1: still intimidating AF

Era #3: Meliora [the Grammy]

June 2015 - Sept. 2017

This is where things get dicey. There are small eras that make this era. This is the Popestar tour under Papa iii. He wears full Papal robes and a black and white suit. His ghouls went for pants too, changing their uniforms to tailored tunics and statuesque demon masks (my favorite). There was some ugliness and the band broke up and it gets complicated, but i have pictures:

June 2015 - July 2016:

Lead / Alpha: got his hand tattoos in 2015/ wears rings now

Rhythm / Omega: (- 2016)

Bass / Water #4: Teddy bear physique/shorter/ would hold his arms straight out and sway side-to-side (2015 - 2016)

Drums / Earth #2: so so small/ hooked his sticks on his horns/ tossed them into the audience/ didn't like his cymbals being touched/ just a shit ass in general (2015- )

Keyboard / Air: introduces Keytar

Kazoo: Papa iii

Popestar Tour: Sept - Nov 2016

Lead / Alpha: (- 2016)

Rhythm / Aether #2: Teddy Bear/ black guitar without Omega symbol [Water #4]

Bass / Water #5: First Lady Ghoul/ so very small/ called Mist

Drums / Earth #2: (- 2016)

Keyboard / Keytar: (- 2016)

*AFTER THIS TOUR ALL GHOULS REPLACED*

Popestar pt. 2 "New Ghouls on the Block": March - Sept. 2017

Lead / Fire #2 [No longer Alpha] my fav Fire/ same height as #1/ thicker build/ scampers/ energetic/ finger guns all the time/ perfect/ nothing on his hands or guitar

Rhythm / Aether #3 (2017- ) [No longer Omega] thick boy/ rings on middle fingers/ bracelet on left wrist/ JUMPER/ plain black guitar

Bass / Water #6 (2017- ) small stature/ huge stage presence/ whips head around/ almost kisses Fire #2 on the regular

Drums / Earth #3: (2017) big guy/ that's all

Keyboard / Keytar: Air #2 (2017) nicknamed Chair/ he sat like a traditional keyboardist/ shorter/ Teddy bear physique

Era #4: Prequelle

May 2018 -

This era is lead by Cardinal Copia. This is where the theatrics kick in and new ghouls are introduced as well as a new Papa and Sister. This is the first album written without an original band member. Ex-members also filed a lawsuit against T. Forge and his cover was blown. So, here's our current Ghouls AND Ghoulettes:

Rats on the Road: May - June 2018

A Pale Tour Named Death: Oct. - Dec. 2018

Lead / Fire / Dewdrop: (2017- ) as Water, filled in for Alpha when he was injured during Era #3 because he's crazy good and knew all the songs on bass and guitar/ is a Fire but called Dewdrop + Dew primarily because he is so small and a former Water/ still insane/ licks guitar picks/ finger fucks his own mouth and runs his hand down his chest/ stomps/ bullies Aether with love

Rhythm / Aether #3 / Forearms: (2017- ) same Aether that ended Era #3/ BEEFY guy/ we spell it Aether instead of Ether to differentiate/ rolls sleeves up after intermission/ jumps A LOT/ best buds with everyone/ gets bullied by Dew/ peace sign fingers/ holds up left foot at curtain call so he ends the show "on the right foot"

Bass / Water #7 / Rain: (2018 -)tall and thin/ bashful and sassy/ ASS WOBBLER/ was left to be raised by his crazy uncle's/ called Rain because he's a Water and fell down (like Rain) backstage

Swiss Army / Multi-Ghoul: (2018- ) (new breed) upstage right/ plays: acoustic + electric guitar, sings, tambourine and 'plays' saxophone as Papa Nihil/ dances the entire time/ darts around messing with everyone/ wiggles/ has an ass that won't quit

Drums / Earth #4 / Mountain: (2018- ) called Mountain because he is an Earth and very tall/ thin/ stoic/ poor baby sweats A LOT because he goes hard/ drumming demon

The Ghoulettes / Tall + Karen / Smol + Pam / Mom's: (2018- ) Tall shreds the Keytar/ Smol sings like an angel and plays tambourine/ both play keyboard and love us

Extra Information: When Copia was introduced the Papa's were all still alive. We met the patriarch of the Emeritus family, Papa Nihil or Papa Zero [plays sax], and his lovely counterpart Sister Imperator. They got together and killed Nihil's sons for a fresh start.

The Grandparents:

[tisthenightofthewitch]

Tobias Forge of Ghost talks about bringing humanity to Clearwater's Ruth Eckerd Hall

Nothing can humanize a macabre, outspoken, unapologetically flamboyant and possibly undead metal band frontman like a yawn, and that’s exactly what Tobias gave CL when we caught up with Swedish musician and songwriter via phone as he prepped for a show at the Kiva Auditorium in New Mexico on November 8.

“I wouldn’t say that it’s taken its toll, but you can definitely feel it after a few days,” Forge said, alluding to the more than two-hour show he and his band put together every night. No need to crucify the 37-year-old mastermind behind Ghost, however, because he’s had a whirlwind year. Since opening for Iron Maiden at Tampa’s Amalie Arena last summer, Ghost has given fans an ambitious new album (Prequelle, released in June) and embarked on its own journey toward arena-rocker status.

In the months after that Tampa show, four of Ghost’s “Nameless Ghouls” sued Forge for 200,000 krona (approximately $22,000) in unpaid compensation. The foursome received a fixed salary, but argued that it had not received a rightful share of Ghost’s profits during their tenure. The Ghouls lost in November 2017, but Forge, who had enjoyed performing anonymously as different characters in the Ghost story, was forced to reveal his identity.

Since then, he’s diminished the role of Ghost’s anti-Pope, Papa Emeritus, and taken the onstage identity of Cardinal Copia, who is the toastmaster and ringleader of Ghost’s current arena and theater tour, which is coming to Clearwater’s Ruth Eckerd Hall on Sunday. Forge now takes interviews as himself (in the past he’d either come dressed in all black and wearing the menacing, metallic mask of a Nameless Ghoul or appear as Papa, robed with religious miter thurible in hand), but he also has a new devotion to making Ghost the most entertaining thing his fans have ever seen. The physical pain feels good.

“Everybody is working their hardest. Not like we’re breaking apart, but it feels like we’re adding a lot of value to the ticket, which is a good feeling,” Forge said, adding that the crew spends its days off doing very little.

“It’s a strong show, man. Getting better and better all the time.”

Prequelle, Ghost’s fourth album, is arguably its best to date, too. On it, Forge (as Copia) has assembled a new cast of Nameless Ghouls and doubled down on the hook-laden, anthemic hard rock from Ghost’s 2015 breakthrough, Meliora. Forge has admitted to never being an ‘80s or ‘90s kind of shredder who plays a million notes a minute; he actually cops to style that’s more ‘60s and ‘70s. Prequelle’s melodies are almost as catchy as those from another Swedish export, ABBA, but the rest of the big lead guitar lines and soaring singing feel like a mishmash of everything from Def Leppard and Judas Priest to Blue Öyster Cult and Alice Cooper.

All of it, of course, is largely occult, and that’s always drawn the interest of religious groups obsessed with thwarting the devil at every turn. Less than a week ago, community members in Midland, Texas gathered to pray over Ghost’s concert at the Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center. Pastor Larry Long didn’t want to cancel the show and expressed concern for Ghost, but he was more or less wondering why the venue would want to book the act.

“We have a freedom of religion in America, which means a freedom of irreligion and anti-Christian faith,” Long told a program on the city’s 107.1-FM, adding that the show was not healthy for his community.

“I’m not in favor of outlawing the band per se; what I’m in favor is finding out from Wagner Noël what in the world they’re thinking… I’m sure the band believes the devil’s real,” Long said. “I doubt that they’re just doing this as a part of their shtick for music and music they produce and so on. And if you were to read some of the lyrics of their songs, they’re really quite disturbing.”

Forge, for his part, has always maintained that the band uses the imagery because “it looks awesome.” Ghost has no intention of trying to send impressionable young kids to hell, and if Long would listen to the message behind Prequelle highlight “Rats,” then he might even find the message of hope and salvation that Cardinal Copia preaches every night.

“In times of turmoil, in times like these, beliefs contagious — spreading disease. This wretched mischief is now coursing through your souls, never to let go,” he sings. “Into your sanctum, you let them in. Now, all your loved ones, and all your kin, will suffer punishments beneath the wrath of God — never to forgive.”

Forge has been an outspoken critic of bullying and admits to being on both sides of the torment that kids subject each other to. He softens up when talking about friends and acquaintances who’ve taken their own lives after feeling like life was beating them down.

“One thing I thought when I was getting bullied was that this is just part of life. This is not gonna last forever. That’s a hard thing when you are a pre-teen or a teenager — you can’t look beyond it,” he said. “When I look back now, it’s like what a shame that they weren’t given the tools to endure what could’ve been just a few more years before getting new and different experiences.”

Asked whether the characters in Ghost’s albums are meant to be protectors of the fans who are probably are outsiders in their own worlds, Forge offered another enlightening answer.

“I hope so,” he said. “I hope that everyone that comes to a Ghost show with the intention of experiencing something, but I really hope that they leave feeling not only the experience of having a super concert, but feeling like their lives are better, too.”

If that’s not human, then what is?

CLTampa.com

[tisthenightofthewitch]

Ghost interview: the masked metal band on their new “positive” record about The Plague

To begin, a horror story…

It’s chilling to think how The Black Death arrived in Ghost’s native Sweden. In fact, there’s a deeply upsetting story on the website Gizmodo that can be summarised thus. After marauding through Asia, by the late 1340’s, the plague arrived in England. A decade of horror followed. Then a ship left England for Scandinavia; it’s cargo, a shipment of wool. The plague killed every man aboard. The ship then drifted for a few years or so, the disease feasting on the rotting corpses of the crew, until it ultimately ran aground near Bergen, Norway.

From then the plague spread into Sweden. Then into Russia. By 1353, one in three Europeans had lost their lives. It would take two hundred years for Europe’s population to return to pre-plague numbers.

“I think this record might be the first positive record ever written about the plague,” says Tobias Forge of Ghost, describing his fourth studio album ‘Prequelle’ with just enough levity in his voice to acknowledge the ridiculousness of that statement. “Essentially, it’s a record about survival, start to finish. The record takes you through the idea of mortality, before ending on the question, ‘if you could circumvent death… would you?’ I come from the metal underground, and the subject of The Black Death has been excavated many times. But those records are about the decimation of everything, and little light is shown to the survivors. There’s an argument that mankind learned a lot of good from what happened…”

This talk of the Bubonic Plague is almost certainly allegory. ‘Prequelle’, see, is the follow up to 2015’s ‘Meliora’, the record that dug Ghost out of the metal underground, and anointed them a pretty big deal. This meant tours with Iron Maiden and Slayer, Avenged Sevenfold and Deftones. It meant acclaim from the fuzzy lips of Dave Grohl – not in itself especially impressive; like an alt-rock Bono, Grohl knows the cool bands he needs to anoint and when – the masked Foo Fighter being rumoured to have sat in on drums for the band on a variety of occasions (as we’ll get to, you wouldn’t know otherwise), as well as producing their ‘If You Have Ghost EP’ in 2013. ‘Meliora’’s stand-out song, ‘Circice’, even won a Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 2016. ‘Prequelle’ arrives with much expectation. It also arrives with Tobias bruised and battered by its creation.

‘Prequelle’ is a record about looking forward. But first, a look back. Early 2017 saw Tobias sued by former Ghost personnel, claiming the frontman had, “in an underhanded and shameless way, attempted to transform Ghost from a band into a solo project with hired musicians”. Tobias responded that “no legal partnership” ever existed between him and the other members, that they were paid a fixed salary to perform as his wont, that they were essentially session musicians. Like everything does now, this all played out in public, with opinion welcome from anyone. Where this gets really messy, is that unless you had an in, nobody really knew who any of Ghost were. Tobias performed as a variety of masked cardinals; three iterations of the demonic anti-pope Papa Emeritus, changing each record. The band performed in masks as the Nameless Ghouls. They were sort of like KISS if that band sang about Satanic scripture instead of shagging. Legal proceedings forced Tobias out of the shadows and shot mystique in the head”

“All things considered, a year down the line, having been through so much turmoil,” says Tobias, with acceptance that he now only has to pretend to be an actual ghoul onstage, not off it, “I’ve come to realise that what happened needed to happen. Also, I’m a big fan of rock, of rock history, and I’ve read every classic rock biography of every band I’m a fan of. You know what? The same shit takes place in every single one. A friend of mine, a very successful songwriter, said to me, ‘you’re not really in the game until you’ve been sued, so welcome in!’ and I think he’s got a point. I’ve been in lots of situations in my life where I’ve managed to turn pain into growing pains. Really, what happened was a receipt that things are going well.”

Tobias takes a deep breath.

“It’s fine. It’ll be over…”

It is unquestionable this experience shaped the record’s DNA, even if, with the lengthy process of litigation dragging along in the background, there is a limit to how much Tobias can say. Freely, that is. It’s all there on ‘Prequelle’. “The song ‘See The Light’ (a stormer of a power pop metal song, it should be said) sounds like it’s about people who’ve crossed you,” we say, thinking of lines such as, “Many a rat I’ve befriended” and “Of all of the demons I’ve known, none can compare to you”. There is a pause so pregnant, metaphysical wet towels are piling up all around us, before Tobias responds, “Yes”. We ask if it’s a song that relates to his current situation. He replies, diplomatically, “I think it’s a song that can apply to any situation in which you’re surrounded by enemies. Really, it’s a song about redistributing anger and negativity.”

As of writing, ‘Prequelle’ isn’t released for another couple of weeks, but you will most likely have already heard its lead-off single, ‘Rats’, which also debuts Tobias’ new rubber faced persona, Cardinal Copia, sort of the midpoint between a deranged Satanic preacher and a used car salesman. If you’ve seen the video, it turns out that the Cardinal can bust a move (Tobias: “Have I ever had dance lessons? I’m mobile, but not nearly as much as our promotional videos lead people to believe…”). ‘Rats’ is also, perhaps, the most direct comment on what Tobias, and the Ghost that’s now been repositioned as a vessel for his self-expression (he prefers ‘project’ to ‘solo’ by the way) have been through during its parent albums creation.

“It’s a song about public trials,” says Tobias. “Rats traditionally were what carried the plague. But they’re also a good analogy for something that’s all around you. I mean, one thing that’s annoying about rats, is they can hide in your walls. They can come up through your toilet. They sort of eat their way into your life. And so I think about the kid getting bullied, and how in the past, the bullies were just at school, or on the way to school. Now they’re there all the time. Online.”

“We look back on ancient times,” he continues, “and we like to think about how sophisticated we are now, whereas in the past we were barbaric. But in the last ten years, I think we’ve regressed back to such a stone throwing, stupid, superstitious, nincompoop way of thinking. It’s fucking horrible…”

So you’re referring to social media? I’m thinking of the line in Rats, “they’re still coming after you, and there’s nothing you can do…”

“Well, as much as I’m an advocate for whistleblowing culture in the modern era – and of course I’m for that, things that are bad for the world should be exposed – I’m not sure that’s the forum for it. All those people just… shouting…”

Does this relate to your personal experience in wake of the lawsuit? When that story broke, it felt like everyone had an opinion on you…

Another pause. Then finally, “Yes”.

“So many people have opinions based, not on fact, but spite,” Tobias continues. “There are people who just love to destroy other people. It saddens me to admit, that I think at whatever state of human civilisation we arrive at, the will to destroy other people, is something that is innate in some people.”

There are of course moments on ‘Prequelle’ that are filled with joy too. A kind of dark, sticky, oily joy, yes. But joy none-the-less. There’s a reason Ghost’s aesthetic riffs off the ecclesiastical after all. All their best songs are big, bold, searching. Take Dance Macabre. Far closer to Duran Duran in their pomp than it is Carcass, if there is a death disco somewhere, an actual one with skeletons and tasty alcoholic beverages that are slime green and taste of formaldehyde – the best night of your death, so to speak – it’ll surely be the most requested song all night.

“I really wanted to explore the use of piano on this record,” says Tobias. “Take the song, Life Eternal, the last song on the record. I wanted it be very ambitious, almost classical, and the piano gives that song air and clarity…”

He concludes. “Like I say, I wanted this to be a positive record, a record about survival…”

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