In an interview this past weekend, A Nameless Ghoul from Ghost remarked that the band has undergone some lineup changes. This is the most concrete form of evidence that has only been circulating as rumors in fan groups on social media about the fast rising, but notoriously secretive band.
Nearly all interviews with Ghost are done by a Nameless Ghoul almost all being done by Papa Emeritus himself. Asked by the Metal Wani blog to comment on the rumors that rest of the members were released from the lineup at the conclusion of the “Popestar USA Tour”:
“From a practical point of view, you’re interested in, on the one hand, preserving the sound, or the elements that make up the sound, and you still wanna progress. I think one of the secrets behind our preserving ability is the fact that we don’t necessarily have to have the same six people in the room to make that sound, which helps.
“It’s always a blessing and a curse when you have some of these classic bands over the course of rock and roll history, where in order for them to sound like that exact band, you need those four individuals, and if one is missing, it does not sound like that. And, fortunately, we don’t have that problem. Because performing Ghost and recording Ghost has never really been the same thing. So that we can preserve our sound; we don’t have to rely on… if some people come and go, which is good. Queens of the Stone Age is the same thing. Everything goes through Josh’s [Homme] hands, and therefore it sounds like Queens of the Stone Age, regardless of who he brings in and out of the band, which is, I guess, a similar situation.”
It is well known that Ghost was meant to have a revolving lineup with different “Papa’s” coming with each album and EP cycle’s completion, and adding a new element to the band. In the list of past Nameless Ghouls appearing with the band on stage include Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters, Josh Homme, Phil Anselmo, Corey Taylor and more. The band have been gaining in popularity with Grammy awards, a worldwide top ten hit (in some cases like the US #1 on the Active Rock chart) for several weeks recently with ‘Square Hammer’, and a prime spot opening for Iron Maiden’s upcoming US tour. Ghost is said to be working on a new full-length album, due out this summer from Loma Vista Records.
Ghost Popestar European tour 2017
Mar 24: Norwich UEA, UK
Mar 25: Cardiff Great Hall, UK
Mar 26: London O2 Forum Kentish Town, UK
Mar 28: Leeds O2 Academy, UK
Mar 29: Glasgow O2 ABC, UK
Mar 31: Manchester O2 Apollo, UK
Apr 01: Birmingham O2 Academy, UK
Apr 04: Brighton Dome, UK
Apr 06: Amsterdam HMH, Netherlands
Apr 08: Hamburg Docks, Germany
Apr 09: Wiesbaden Schlachthof, Germany
Apr 10: Brussels AB, Belgium
Apr 11: Paris Olympia, France
Apr 13: Barcelona St Jordi Club, Spain
Apr 14: Madrid Barclaycard Center, Spain
Apr 15: Lisbon MEO Arena, Portugal
Apr 16: Bilbao BEC, Spain
Apr 18: Zurich Volkshaus, Switzerland
Apr 19: Milan Alcatraz, Italy
Apr 20: Vienna Gasometer, Austria
Apr 21: Warsaw Stodola, Poland
Apr 23: Munich Kesselhaus, Germany
Apr 25: Berlin Huxleys, Germany
Apr 26: Copenhagen Valby Hallen, Denmark
Apr 27: Oslo Spektrum, Norway
Apr 28: Stockholm Hovet, Sweden
Apr 30: Helsinki Jaahalli, Finland