NOTE: THIS WAS FIRST WRITTEN A FEW DAYS AFTER PREQUELLE WAS RELEASED IN JUNE. This was meant to be a rough draft, but we're now releasing it in its raw form.
This past weekend, we got our first listen to the new album, Prequelle, from Ghost. Before we share our thoughts on how it sounds, it seems like some other things need to be addressed. Why are we talking about this? Well, we've been fans for some time. Having been through a few band breakups ourselves, we've seen similar situations play out in the past. So, after a lot of observation and reflection, we've decided to offer our thoughts. This album's release provided us the right time to comment. One quick disclaimer, this is an opinion piece, and where we don't reference something with a link, it's either something we think of as common knowledge, or it's something we, ourselves, think. We've done our best to cite sources. Additionally, this is long, so we're going to have to release it in stages over the next few days. As our final disclaimer, please forgive us that we don't currently have any way to make umlauts. Our apologies to Mr. Soderberg.
To really understand what's happening, it's important to look at the history of these people together. Martin Persner, Simon Soderberg, Mauro Rubino, Martin Hjerstedt, and Henrik Palm are known former members of the band, and all but Persner are suing, according to Soderberg's statement
here. Why do they feel they have a case? Well, initially, we thought they didn't. We thought they were tired of being anonymous, and wanted to grasp the fame their project had achieved. Forge's statements around that time certainly reflected this narrative. From
Blabbermouth, posted 22 April 2017:
I love doing Ghost- it's fucking great, it's a great job, the best job in the world- but it definitely comes with a lot of baggage that was... It's easy to see that now, of course... Getting this or that person into a mask and taking that person out on a world tour, with everything that comes with that, will be a problem, because most people that are sucked into the idea of playing rock music do so because they want to get known and they want recognition. I'm no better- I want recognition as well- but I don't necessarily want it in the form of 'likes.' I'm battling human nature here, so it's... I've sort of given up that struggle, that fight you cannot win.
Fractures Appear
First, Persner outed himself in a
video on Youtube just last year on 2 March, just over a month before Forge's above statements, explaining that he had left the band, and was returning to his previous project, Magna Carta Cartel. The secret was out, and his video implicitly confirmed the speculated identities of the rest of Ghost's membership. After all, Magna Carta Cartel consisted of none other than Martin Persner, playing guitar and singing, Simon Soderberg also playing guitar and singing, Par Glendor playing guitar and synth, Arvid Persner playing drums and guitar, and Tobias Forge, playing guitar and bass, according to
this listing on last.fm. Clearly, they had at least this close association- and more, which we'll explain later. When Persner outed himself, he pierced the veil of mystery that most fans cherished. Shortly thereafter, the rest of the band was abruptly fired.
One can't help but look at that timing and notice that if someone had designs on appropriating the project for themselves alone, it would be difficult to do if some of the founding members both remained in the band, AND were known to the public. It had to be now or never, it seems. They'd already been having some troubles over their financial arrangement leading up to this, as explained by Soderberg's linked statement to Metal Injection, and it seems that rather than come to an agreement that respected all Ghouls equally, they were all fired immediately before they could publicly establish their joint ownership of the project.
Perhaps this sudden firing explains the wobbly transition and clumsy first performances with the replacement crew. Maybe some of you readers will remember the concert footage of Papa falling on stage, and some sour live vocals that went out in fans' cell phone videos across the internet during that time. We had just seen one of the last shows with who we believe were the core Ghouls plus Megan Thomas when this happened, and the shows changed dramatically after that point. Stage presence went from building a powerful tension through the original Ghouls' imposing, intimidating stillness punctuated by swift, dramatic, explosive motions to the replacement crew's ever cliched constant motion that looks rote and rehearsed, rather than inspired and well timed. The true ghouls knew how to create antici.............................................................................................................pation. One of the new keyboard players dances like she's at a Beyonce concert. It really doesn't fit.
It's here that we'd like to emphasize that Forge's argument that Ghost was never a band, but instead a solo project, looks like a justification that he's still trying to convince himself is true. Published on
Blabbermouth, Forge said:
We never formed the band together; it was always sort of...I guess a Bathory sort of band, where there was people playing live, and the people playing live [were] not necessarily the same that played on the records.
This sounds like revisionist history, using certain selected truths to support Forge's current narrative in his own mind. For example, guest musicians came and played some things, like
Dave Grohl was widely rumored to have done. Zac Baird is believed to have played with Ghost as well, which we can attest is likely, given that we spoke with him briefly outside the venue after a Ghost show. Of course, you'll have to take our word for it, but we were by no means the only ones who saw him in person at a Ghost show. So, sure, there were people who came and didn't stick around.
Still, that does not erase the fact that these Ghouls were not random people picked out from Craigslist ads (or their Swedish equivalent), nor were they hired studio musicians. These were people Forge had played with in multiple bands over the years. In
this emusic article, the birth of Ghost is certainly not described as a solo project. A Nameless Ghoul, presumably Forge, says:
Myself and the other guys are musicians, and we've been in several groups together in the past. And while being together in another band, Ghost started when I played a riff to everybody else. I said that this is probably the most heavy metal riff that has ever existed. Then I showed them the opening riff to "Stand by Him."
They were a team of people who had stuck together crafting music in multiple genres, looking very much like they had banded together to improve their collective odds, and to give an outlet to all of their different writing moods. Brothers Martin and Arvid Persner, and Linton and Mauro Rubino, whom we understand to be father and son, played with Ghost. Band memberships overlap from Subvision to MCC to TID to Priest to Repugnant. There were a lot of close connections across their scene, suggesting intimate friendships. Persner's tattoos echo the aesthetic used in designing the Ghost emblems, and we can't imagine someone making such a permanent and visible commitment to a band in which they participate only casually, to support a friend's solo project. But then, Persner, who is curiously not named as a plaintiff in the
suit against Forge, said something in an
interview with Dr. Kurt Ellenberger of Frakathustra (whom MCC reveals is a Professor of Music at Frederik Meijer Honors College, part of Grand Valley State University here in Michigan, we might add), that seems to quietly support Tobias:
After having recorded an album all by ourselves between 2006-2009, one of us started his new project called "Ghost."
In fact, it almost looks like they joined forces as friends to build bands that each of them could walk away with, after one of their projects eventually got large enough for them to bring their other projects into the spotlight. It's like they were sticking together to collectively launch all of their various bands towards a global audience. After all, most people have heard the refrain, all publicity is good publicity. Stage a tragic, contentious breakup and quickly draw attention to our satellite projects! In the emusic article where Forge described the birth of Ghost, the closing comment seems ominously prophetic:
Well, I can't reveal the future. Anything can happen in the antichurch, as within the church itself. In the days of the Avignon schism, back in the 14th century, there once were three popes fighting for the right to lead the church, excommunicating each other. And that was before the Borgias. There may be a bloody war of succession to come.
He was speaking of the practice of appointing a new Papa for each album, but it's not too great a stretch to interpret that as hinting at an intentional schism in the church (ie. Ghost) itself. In fact, with Forge portraying an evil pope, it's not beyond the scope of reason to imagine him playing the villain during Ghost's split, taking the fall in a well planned marketing strategy designed to elevate the visibility of Sweden's music scene as a whole. These are some very intelligent people, and a plan like that would be fucking brilliant.
Schism
Still, that doesn't seem likely. The lawsuit, as best we can tell, is very real. Furthermore, Priest, the band Soderberg has in association with Mauro Rubino has a song,
History in Black, with lyrics that go a long way in explaining the grief and disappointment they surely felt in having been severed from their music and left bleeding:
I traveled with the enemy
I thought it was my destiny
I'm free of all the lunacy
I never want it back
My history in Black
Try to imagine working hard as a musician for years, over a decade, to make a career out of music. We know personally how much is involved. Scheduling shows and practices around work, losing sleep, coming up with new material that stays within the parameters of your band's general sound, hauling heavy gear here, there, and everywhere, keeping contact with the media to promote shows, hanging flyers, constant planning, emailing, texting, calling, keeping instruments in good repair, maintaining a vehicle for travel, driving (lots of driving), and staying organized is hard work. Having played in a locally popular band, and one of our members being the child of a (retired) touring musician, it's a familiar story for some of us in Morning Shadows. You're putting all of your personal energy into making your band go. Nothing about it runs on autopilot. You're writing music that you love, and you play it with pride and abundant enthusiasm when audiences are just eating it up, dancing, shouting, begging for more, and turning up in increasingly greater numbers to your shows. You walk by a shop downtown where they're playing your demo CD- and none of you has any connection to the store. What a cool thrill that you don't even know how they got your music!
Magnify that several thousand times over, and you begin to feel what it must have been to be in Ghost and watch its popularity explode after years of effort, sacrifice, and dedication. You know each other well, and have a dynamic that translates into obvious camaraderie onstage. There is no feeling like having this private, emotionally revealing creation of yours that you crafted with care for so long be well received by an excited, sweaty mass of people. When we saw Ghost the first time, there was no questioning the energy that came from the Ghouls, playing together with longtime friends, and looking like they were living their very dreams- and they were. They met their audiences with a humming, enigmatic confidence. We felt it. We were there. These people were fired at the zenith of their musical joy.
No Regrets?
Tobias looks like he's wrestling with self-doubt as he tries hard to frame things differently when he now speaks of Ghost. In early articles where he spoke as a Nameless Ghoul, it was, "we," this, and "we," that. Now, it's, "I," even when he describes the early days of the band. Legal proceedings have probably made him choose his words more carefully. That's sad. Tobias seems like such a smart, principled person. He's articulate and thoughtful. Unless he has absolutely no conscience, he has to be questioning his own motives. Why would someone suddenly fire several of their longtime bandmates? Tobias claims that it was always his project, but he seems to have been the only one who thought that up until the moment we've all been discussing. Deep in the back of his mind, he has to know that the Ghouls were being kept in the dark about his intentions. That could explain why he has to write lyrics such as these from Prequelle's Faith:
I am the wall
and I am watching you fall
because Faith is mine...
seemingly referring to Ghost as, "Faith," and:
A pack of fools can take the stand
perhaps referencing the ongoing litigation. Some Ghost fans have speculated around the web that the lyrics of See the Light address the lawsuit:
Every day that you feed me with hate
I grow stronger
Those sound like the words of someone trying to bolster her or his own confidence in the face of gnawing, internal doubts just as much as external pressures. We can only speculate that it's possible that Forge feared his bandmates would snatch the band away from him. He's a Misfits fan. We have all seen the horror that was done to Glenn Danzig by Jerry Only. Even his own brother, Doyle, got fed up with his shit and eventually parted ways with him. It's possible that the looming fear of that happening to him grew into an insidious distrust in his bandmates that erupted when Persner made his announcement amid growing tensions over the band's finances. That's certainly the more charitable view. It assumes that there was no hidden agenda, unspoken, and not made known to the Ghouls. That's what we want to have been the case.
Prequelle
This brings us directly to our thoughts on the album itself, the first to be released since the Ghouls' firing. The music has taken a radical departure from the band's sound. Of course, musicians grow and change over time. This is not growth, however. This is the sound of stagnation and running out of ideas while having a contractual deadline hanging over Forge's head.
The complexity of the layering has diminished significantly, so that any given musical phrase in the song no longer has an A, B, C, D set of variations, but is simply A, A, A, A. It's much more repetitive, and the music suffers from losing those subtle variations. It feels uninspired overall, though it has managed some catchy material. Dance Macabre, which immediately made us think of Madonna's Borderline, is infectiously danceable. Pro Memoria, also a very catchy tune, sounds strongly like the
Eagles' Journey of the Sorcerer, which is probably known to most people as the opening music to the BBC production of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. The album is short. The CD lacks a booklet, which isn't really a big deal, but it's not typical of Ghost. They have so far put a lot of emphasis on saturating their releases with art, making this look lazy.
The whole album, as some commenters across the web have noted, sounds like a side project of Forge's, not a Ghost album. Well, now that he has burned bridges with his friends, Forge has no outlet for his material that doesn't fit Ghost. Some of the songs sound like they would be much better served being played by MCC, but he's had to shoehorn them into Ghost's sound. Witch Image, for example, is much better suited to
Magna Carta Cartel. It is a really beautiful song, but would sound much better with softer, more atmospheric tones. Life Eternal, for that matter, would also be better as a MCC song. It also sounds very much like some tracks were built from parts that had been conceived before the Ghouls were fired, like Miasma and Helvetesfonster (which also echoes the main theme from Journey of the Sorcerer). Parts of Faith sound like they also came from that era, but the body of the song- the arrangement, segues, and accompanying parts- lacks Ghost's previous attention to detail. Rats, the first release to come from this album, sounds like it was written from entirely new parts post-split. We suspect that's why Forge chose it to represent the album. Then again, when we really listen, the harpsichord part sounds more like it came from Meliora, but it's an appendage at the end of the song, dangling there like they didn't know what else to do with it, and it was too cool not to use. It's probably the catchiest piece he has written, that also has the fewest obvious ties to the previous albums. On the whole, it sounds like random song parts were cobbled together. The writing is rushed. Prequelle comes across like it's meant to legitimize the new lineup and his claim to the future of Ghost, and was simply an obstacle Forge wanted to get out of the way so he could move on.
Furthermore, without his longtime bandmates around, he has no one to tell him no, or to steer him towards a better idea when he's writing. Forge has hired new people that he could similarly fire at any time. They're also newer to him in personal terms. Both of these things make them less likely to speak up when he's making a poor writing decision, or to argue passionately to insist upon a better idea.
Every creator is guilty of drafting, and even releasing complete schlock. We've done it ourselves. We've also made music with people with whom there was zero chemistry, which was evident in the recordings. It's not that we're making that case regarding the new lineup, but at this point, anything could happen. The Ghouls, we firmly believe, held him to a higher standard, and had a greater personal and artistic stake in curating Ghost's sound and image. Their familiarity gave them the sort of relaxed environment for their chemistry to evolve. He has surrounded himself with people whom he can easily dismiss if he decides that they're too uncooperative. That's not to say that the current lineup is without talent or passion. We've met a few of them. We've seen them in concert. They are excellent musicians, and friendly people. They still give an energetic, inspiring performance. It's just that they know they can be fired, and Forge has made it clear that it is NOT their band, so it would be natural for them to feel less inclined to invest themselves deeply in the project. Were we in their shoes, we'd probably be saving our best material for our own projects on the side.
It isn't that Prequelle is necessarily bad music, it's just not Ghost. It's like what happened to The Clash after they got tricked by their management into firing Mick Jones and released Cut the Crap, which most fans regard as non-canon; it doesn't really count as a Clash album. Come to think of it, Ghost without Martin Persner is exactly like The Clash minus Mick Jones. Once separated from the band, Jones' next project, Big Audio Dynamite, revealed which elements Jones brought to the band, and it turns out they were vital to The Clash. Listening to MCC, you can hear how much Persner brought to the table. His skill is in the subtlety of layer, tone, and texture, balancing technical complexity with the constructive arc and mood of each song. He's a far better writer than Tobias, hands down. His departure from Ghost is a monstrous loss. If we could turn back time, we'd try our best to massage the relationship between Strummer and Jones back to one of harmony. In our current situation, Persner and Forge aren't at legal odds. Permission to use the Papa Emeritus character was granted to Persner,
according to its claimed creator, Pelle Hallje, yet Persner hasn't voiced any public objections (that we can find) to the character's continued use. There may yet be hope.
What We'd Like to See Happen
Right now, there's still a chance, however slim, that Tobias could yield to his conscience and rectify this. It would be a very hard thing to do, admitting that he's made a very hurtful, damaging mistake. It has split the fan base just as badly as his relationship with the Ghouls. He would have a long way to go to heal his former bandmates' feelings and make things right between them. This was an enormous and very public betrayal. It would take a lot of humility and strength of character for him to confess and make amends. Could he find it within himself to ask for forgiveness? Might the Ghouls be willing and able to grant him Absolution?
It's too much to ask. Still, in a fantasy world, something could be done that has not been seen in the history of rock, to the best of our knowledge. In a moment of divine inspiration, Tobias could apologize. He could ask for the Ghouls to return. The Ghouls could join forces with the current lineup to make a massive band. That would be a lot to manage. There's a lot of expense trucking around all those people with all that gear, not to mention keeping personalities from coming into conflict on tour. Ghost is supposedly not profitable. Still, think of orchestras! Remember the big band era? Keeping large groups of musicians together doesn't have to be wishful thinking. We are long overdue for having a massive shift in the world of popular music. Ghost, to many, has been a revival of hope. They are poised to become legendary. That is, if it isn't too late, and their magic has not been squandered, like some, including Pelle "Peter" Hallje have suggested. The first three albums breathed new life into the rock world, which has been living in the shadow of hip-hop for nearly thirty years, now. Putting the Ghouls together with the current lineup would be risky, but the musical chemistry would also have the potential to achieve the profound. Rock needs this. We need this.
But was it all a ruse? Will they quietly settle out of court with a wink and a nod when no one is looking? Could this be the greatest trick the devil ever pulled?
