During a recent Chaoszine interview, Ghost‘s Tobias Forge spoke about the recent leak of his unreleased 2008 solo recording, Passiflora.
He said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “I remember that when I wrote the songs and I had recorded them, I was a little bit irritated that I had not written them in a key that was ideal for my singing. It’s amateur mistakes. There are some songs on [Ghost‘s debut album, 2010’s] Opus [Eponymous] that are like that. I should have written them in another key. I should have detuned them to more fully… And it’s not too late; I can do that.”
“I think Passiflora was definitely a — it’s a super-ambitious record. I was so filled with emotions and creativity. I had a real vision for that record. I had a real vision for that band. It literally really didn’t go anywhere. So when that happens… If you write a love letter and that just disappears into the void, you would just try to distance yourself from it as soon as possible and, and that’s what I felt.”
Before he became globally known as the mastermind behind theatrical rock phenomenon Ghost, Forge quietly recorded a solo album titled Passiflora back in 2008. The album, which remained officially unreleased and mostly unheard for over a decade, recently surfaced online.
Before the full Passiflora LP leaked in February, only two tracks, “House Of Affection” and “In Enigma Schiffer,” were available on YouTube. A physical CD later sold for $5,434 on Discogs in March 2024.
Ghost will release their new album Skeletá on April 25th via Loma Vista Recordings. The first single, “Satanized,” dropped earlier in April and is already available for fans to check out.
“Satanized” is described in a press release as “an avalanche of infectious hooks and harmonies is buoyed by a hypnotic shuffle, as the narrator succumbs to dark forces within and without, helplessly acknowledging their own blasphemy and heresy as it inexorably consumes them.” By the time the song’s opening lines “There is something inside me and they don’t know if there is a cure” have moved from the inner monologue of the possessed to the ears of the hapless listener, it will already be too late: You will have been “Satanized”.
