GHOST play Beach Goth 4 Oct. 24, The Mayan Theater Oct. 26, The Observatory North Park Nov.2
Ghost is the band your mother worried you would start listening to. Six masked, nameless ghouls play riffs so heavy and thumping that your hand reflexively turns the volume dial up.
Lead by Satanic anti-pope vocalist, Papa Emeritus III, tasked with overthrowing governments and churches, serenades you with lyrics that read like a manifesto for the decidedly damned heading on an epic journey toward darkness.
On Oct. 24 that road of ungodliness will lead followers to Beach Goth 4 at The Observatory Santa Ana, where the veiled group of Swedish musicians will be playing and leading the masses towards damnation through the power of rock-n-roll. The procession continues to The Mayan Theater Oct. 26 then to The Observatory North Park Theater Nov.2.
Papa Emeritus III and his nameless ghouls recently released the third Ghost album titled Meliora, but did not anticipate their presence and reach to become so renowned. “Initially it wasn’t really the plan, albeit that we had a high ambition with the band, especially from a live point of view,” a nameless ghoul said.
With the naivety of new musicians the band mainly hoped to begin playing festivals. “We thought you can make a record and as long as you have a record out you can basically just go around and do a few festivals every year and you can put on this big show and everything will be swell, but then we noticed you have to work your way up to that,” a nameless ghoul surmised.
Now, with more than one million likes on Facebook, an epic 63-date international tour underway, and rumors of iconic musicians like Dave Grohl donning a Nameless Ghoul mask and joining them on stage from time to time, the group has still been able to maintain perspective.
“I think that even though we’re obviously aware that it (the music) has taken us somewhere, it’s still very much a situation where we are just like, let’s just see if we can go a few steps further before we sort of pull the plug on whatever is going to end up happening,” a nameless ghoul said. “As much as that can come off as not living in the moment and not enjoying what you have, it’s mental survival in a way, not to get too caught up in the idea that this is forever.”
Behind their silver horned masks, make-up, black cloaks and demonic pope hats is a pretty reasonable and simple effect of their anonymity. Once off the stage, they go on to lead fairly normal lives without being tempted by the siren song of personal fame that can so often lead musicians down the truly dark path of narcissism. A nameless ghoul explains, “As far as popularity goes, I think that our anonymity or our unconventional way of not being profiled as personalities, I think that is a good change because almost every other band on the planet is hysterically profiling themselves as persons, to a point where it’s almost ridiculous sometimes.”
Being anonymous songbirds for the devil definitely grabs attention, but Ghost finds itself with a rapidly expanding devoted fan base thanks to their dynamic and melodic compositions. Songs like “Circle” or “Majesty” off their latest album meld soaring pop-esque vocals with chugging guitar riffs and swelling choruses. Meliora is a heavy metal record with chamber music interludes that would probably best be listened to live under the acoustics of a stained glass cathedral. Alas, this most likely will not happen anytime soon thanks to the whole satanic worship thing.