Ghost recently announced the release of their new album, Skeletá , on April 25th via Loma Vista Recordings .
The album is the first new material since Impera (2022), which topped international charts and brought the group back to Brazil in 2023. The band has also announced the first phase of the SKELETOUR World Tour with more than 55 dates, which is expected to include South America next year.
In an interview with Wikimetal , vocalist Tobias Forge stated that he doesn't plan to tour Brazil in 2025, but that he is organizing a tour for 2026. The Ghost frontman talked about the new album, inspiration, Brazilian fans, and which albums by Brazilian bands he has in his collection – even revealing a Sepultura tattoo.
Check out the full conversation:
Wikimetal: Skeletá deals with more introspective themes. What motivated you to create an album that addresses basic feelings like hope, love, hate, and acceptance? Was it a personal experience you went through?
Tobias Forge: Yes, I think most people have faced feelings like that. But my choice to make an album about it was because Impera wasn't like that. And when I made Impera , I felt I didn't want to do that again, I wanted to make another album. I wanted to make an album that had a different set of emotions. So, that's why.
WM: The album Impera had a more hard rock, pop, and commercial sound. Skeletá returns to a more traditional heavy metal sound. What was your inspiration for this album, and what message do you want to convey?
Tobias Forge: I think the overall message of the album is hope and healing. I think most people have gone through similar emotional journeys. And I believe most people are feeling, especially nowadays, that the end is near. We've been led to believe that the end would be the end of civilization, the end of the countries we know and love and where we live. And, of course, throughout history things have happened, but I don't think this is the end. I don't think the world is falling apart.
I know things are difficult right now, but I also know that the people who want us to believe this are two dictators who are dying and trying to make us think we can't live without them. And that if they die – and they will because they're over 70 and sick, obese, and fucking idiots – we have to die too. And that's not true. And I think the world will be shocked. People will be so surprised in a few years when these guys are dead and life goes on. And we need to prepare ourselves to keep living with the hope that the world will keep turning. Because that's what it does.
WM: Speaking of cover art. Ghost's album covers always feature references and inspirations. What's the reference this time for the cover of Skeletá ?
Tobias Forge: I wanted it to be a reflection, like the reflection in a mirror of the record. As if someone were looking at a gallery, like a kind of summary of life.
Do you know a film called Citizen Kane ? The last scene of that film is the character walking into an empty house, without other people, but full of things. And I wanted that feeling. Of looking from a point of view where you see a mirror and next to it you see these paintings that represent life and the place where life is really happening. And it represents the dawn and dusk of the circulation that happens everywhere. Because the world and life, as we know it, is circular, not linear. But in this room, everything is linear. It's made that way.
That's why you see the universe between the frames. You see how enormous and infinite the outside world is. But it's still made to look like a room. Like a box. So, in a way, that's the reference of the album, which I'm trying to explain, therapeutically, as therapy, that you should try to live life instead of thinking about dying all the time. Because if you have time to think about dying, you're clearly alive, right?
WM: The last announced SKELETOUR is scheduled for September 25th in Mexico. Can Brazilian fans expect a visit from Ghost later this year?
Tobias Forge: You shouldn't expect a visit this year, but probably next year. Unfortunately, we're working on that now, but Skeletour continues until 2026. And until then, we're working hard to make it happen in South America.
A big collector of vinyl records by Brazilian bands.
WM: What is your connection with Brazilian fans?
Tobias Forge: It's a long story. We've been visiting Brazil since 2013, I think. The first time we were there was 12 years ago. We try to go there every cycle, but we've been 4 or 5 times. And every time it's been very welcoming and very incredible. The fans are incredible, the country is incredible, the bands are incredible! Many of my favorite bands, especially death metal, come from Brazil. Sarcófago, Sepultura, Mutilator , Vulcano …
WM: Speaking of Brazilian bands, you're a big vinyl collector and have many records by Brazilian bands. Have you ever been influenced by any Brazilian artist, whether in Ghost or even Repugnant?
Tobias Forge: The most influential Brazilian bands for me are: without a doubt, Sepultura. I even have a tattoo on my arm of the cover of the EP *Bestial Devastation *. It was the first tattoo I got when I was 18 or 19 years old. I think the first three or four Sepultura albums were very important to me. *INRI *, by Sarcófago, meant a lot to me. I still think it's absolutely wonderful. *Mutilator* is cool. I know * Holocausto* has aged, but *Bloody Vengeance* by Vulcano is a great album. What else? Mystifier , great band. I think most of the bands I like from Brazil are very underground and old. But nowadays, a band I really like is Crypta . I think they're incredible.
WM: Which Brazilian album is missing from your collection?
Tobias Forge: I know there are some Cogumelo vinyl records that I don't have yet. The second Sextrash , which is called Funeral Serenade or something like that. And some MX . Some Dorsal Atlântica that I don't have, but I have most of them. I collect a lot of demos too. I'm looking for the first original Sarcófago demo, Satanic Lust . So, Wagner Antichrist , if you're listening, please get in touch! Or DD Crazy . Any of you. I want the original, that's what I'm looking for. I have all the others, but Satanic Lust , that's the one I don't have, the original. With Wagner's label inside the cover. It needs to be the original.
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