In a new interview with Finland’s Chaoszine, GHOST mastermind Tobias Forge spoke about his recently leaked solo album called “Passiflora”, which was recorded in 2008 and went officially unreleased and largely unheard. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I remember that when I wrote the songs and I had recorded them, I was a little bit irritated that I had not written them in a key that was ideal for my singing. It’s amateur mistakes. There are some songs on [GHOST’s debut album, 2010’s] ‘Opus [Eponymous]’ that are like that. I should have written them in another key. I should have detuned them to more fully… And it’s not too late; I can do that.”Forge continued: “I think ‘Passiflora’ was definitely a — it’s a super-ambitious record. I was so filled with emotions and creativity. I had a real vision for that record. I had a real vision for that band. It literally really didn’t go anywhere. So when that happens… If you write a love letter and that just disappears into the void, you would just try to distance yourself from it as soon as possible and, and that’s what I felt.”Forge also talked about GHOST’s upcoming album, “Skeletá”, which will arrive on April 25 via Loma Vista Recordings. Asked if there were new things that he tried vocally on “Skeletá” that he hadn’t attempted in the past, Forge said: “Well, I don’t know. Probably. Not off the top of my head. There was moments when… There was a lot of bits and pieces of sort of kind of naked vocals in there that aren’t as dubbed as I usually do them. I like stacking up vocals, just because I like that sort of… I mentioned RAMONES [earlier in the interview]… I’m actually a huge RAMONES fan. I’m very influenced by RAMONES. But I’m just saying that that they are an example of a band that people think are just pure punk. But they aren’t just pure punk. It’s pop melodies, pop songs, and Joey [Ramone] always like stacked up his vocals. How you get that sound of Joey Ramone is by stacking the vocals. That’s why I started doing that already in [Forge’s early 2000s pop rock band] SUBVISION because I wanted to have that sort of magically chorusy RAMONES-sounding sonics, basically. And when you do that a lot, it does make vocals sound really big. It makes it sound really — especially when you layer it up with harmonies and stuff, that’s how you get that sort of AOR big, fleshed out wide a cappella sound, basically. And what you can do then as a little trick, if you just wanna make it sound a little different, it’s, like, don’t dub, and then all of a sudden you get a little bit more of a naked feeling, which I don’t like because I don’t like my voice much. I only like it when it’s dubbed. I don’t like it when it’s not dubbed.”After Forge made a handful of CD-R copies of “Passiflora” to hand out to record companies, the effort failed to be picked up by any label and the project was scrapped. Those CD-R copies eventually made their way into the hands of collectors, with copies in recent years selling for up to $5,000 due to their rarity.Prior to the entire “Passiflora” LP being leaked in February, only two songs from it — “House Of Affection” and “In Enigma Schiffer” — made it on to YouTube, while a physical CD sold for $5,434 on Discogs in March 2024.The first single from, “Skeletá”, a song called “Satanized”, was made available in early March.The “Satanized” music video introduces the new character who will be fronting GHOST for its 2025 touring cycle: Papa V Perpetua.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.”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.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.The physical home video of GHOST’s worldwide Top 10 box office smash feature film debut “Rite Here Rite Now” was made available on December 6, 2024.[embedded content][embedded content]
