Ghost frontman Tobias Forge picks his favourite albums of all time
Tobias Forge, the Swedish mastermind behind rock metal band Ghost, became something of a connoisseur by being an avid music lover himself – all of his work seamlessly intertwines with his adoration of music in one way or another.
Before Ghost, Forge was in a multitude of bands, including the death metal outfit Repugnant, under his stage name Mary Goore, and glam metal band Crashdïet, also under the Goore moniker. Forge has confessed many times in interviews that death metal was always his true heart’s desire, but Subvision and Repugnant both suffered for success, and so if he wanted to make music for a living, he was going to have to change his course.
The concept for Ghost was something that Forge had long before he dropped their first demos. He had visual ideas that would make for an intriguing theatrical project but wasn’t yet sure of its appeal until he decided one day, after his wife’s encouragement, to just go for it. In a chilling unfolding of events, however, his brother unfortunately passed away the day he uploaded his first Ghost demos to MySpace; something he says “felt like some kind of weird trade – the band for my brother”.
Nonetheless, Ghost became an overnight success, with Forge waking up to many offers from labels. It was a sobering moment, as music was always first and foremost what Forge wanted to do: “I never had any ambition to do anything else than become a musician,” he said. In childhood, he fantasised about becoming one of his musical inspirations, like Slash or Keith Richards, dreaming of being “a cool guitar player rather than the singer”.
Naturally, Forge cites many Swedish artists as his inspirations growing up, like ABBA and Tommy Nilsson with his beautiful ballad ‘Öppna din dörr’. Many of his vocal inspirations are women, too, like Siouxsie and the Banshees, Kim Wilde, Tori Amos, and Tina Turner. However, aside from the more niche choices, Forge takes a significant interest in some of the biggest names in rock and metal, like Metallica, The Rolling Stones, Iron Maiden, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Mötley Crüe, and Faith No More.
Forge and Metallica’s James Hetfield have had a long-term mutual relationship with one another, with Hetfield calling Ghost one of his “favourite bands”. Aside from supporting and performing in a lot of the same circles, Ghost released a cover of ‘Enter Sandman’, which Forge recorded to support Camp Aranu’tiq, a summer camp for transgender youths.
On the subject of records in particular, Forge has no trouble listing three that have had an impact on him and will do for many years to come. “One record that I could probably listen to for the rest of my life is A Saucerful of Secrets by Pink Floyd,” he tells Impericon. “Another record that I absolutely love and hold very dearly is Strange Days, [by] The Doors.”
When discussing one of the best records of all time, Forge doesn’t skip a beat before naming Seven Churches by Possessed. “If you wanna hear one death metal record ever, you should listen to Seven Churches,” he says.
Above all, however, Forge’s biggest inspiration isn’t any of the aforementioned musicians. In fact, it isn’t a musician at all, it’s his brother. “Without him,” he admits, “I wouldn’t have been exposed to teenage culture so early. That gave me an insight into pop culture that I wouldn’t have had”. Forge credits his brother for turning him on to many of the great bands of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, which is also possibly why he enjoys the nostalgia of listening exclusively to the older stuff.
The magic of Ghost reflects this, as Forge put it himself, “I always wanted Ghost to sound like the one band from the ‘70s you haven’t heard”. It’s a perfect adage, really, and the reason why so many people love Ghost’s music: it’s reflective in a way that’s still fun and dynamic enough to be reinventive. Not many musicians are able to look back so tenaciously while creating something completely new, and Ghost has nailed it.
