Last year, Swedish heavy metal band Ghost released their third studio album, Meliora, on August 21, on Loma Vista Recordings.  Soon after, they went on a North American tour, with a date here in Toronto on October 1, where I was able to sit down with one of the Nameless Ghouls.

What would be major musical influences for you, or for the band?

Ooo that’s a hard question.  Everything you can imagine, from movies to culture, food, to meeting people, and always lots of music.  From fucking classical, to rock, metal, trance music to synthesizers. Everything.

And you guys have covered ABBA.

Yeah, well that’s kinda obvious because ABBA, we grew up with that shit.

So, if I’m right, you are on your third lead singer.  How is it working with Papa Emeritus III?

It works out fine, otherwise he’d be sacked.  That’s how we work.

Going into recording Meliora, was it different from the last ones? Did you have a different mindset?

Kind of, because we were very sure of the art works and the aesthetics, the lyrical content that this would be.  So we went in there, a lot like the last time, but this time we worked a bit closer with the producer. We met up with him before, and started to plan our idea and ask if he was interested in that, so we were all on the same page.  And we started working, new guitars, new tricks, we’re all about learning, it’s what we do.  We’re in no sense self-sufficient, we want to learn, it’s what we’re about.

And you’re happy with the new album?

Very. It came out great, because the vision we had kind of materialized in a very good sense. I’m very happy with it.

Great. Is the band more of like a family, becaue of you guys being Nameless Ghouls? Or, with you not really having an identity, more of one cohesive being?

Every touring band is a family, but that includes crew members, so in that sense we are like that.  We’ve become like an entity.

Since the interview, Ghost has gone on to tour around Europe and just last week, won their first Grammy for Best Metal Performance for the song “Cirice”, from Meliora. Congratulations guys!

All photos are my own. Do not use without my consent.