Bottles are surely being popped within the Clergy tonight - it's been confirmed that Ghost have landed their highest ever UK album chart position, as new album Impera has debuted at number two. The band's fifth studio album, given a glowing 9/10 review in this month's Metal Hammer magazine, was only beaten to the sacred top spot by bedroom pop artist Rex Orange County with his latest album, Who Cares?
It caps off a huge week for Tobias Forge's Swedish occult party-rockers, having made their debut on flagship US chat show Jimmy Kimmel Live on Wednesday night, performing recent Impera single Call Me Little Sunshine.
Speaking exclusively to Metal Hammer for our current cover feature, Tobias lifted the lid on the semi-conceptual themes at the heart of the record.
“I think people need to understand that my albums are never conceptual in the way that King Diamond’s are,” he says. “It’s never a story that starts in the beginning and finishes at the end of the story. It’s not a rock opera. To compare it to other artists, it’s more like Iron Maiden’s concept albums – like a record that loosely dabbles with the concept of pharaohs or time.
"On Powerslave, there are other songs that aren’t technically about pharaohs. Or like on Somewhere In Time, the songs have a chronological element in them. Impera is similar, where the songs are shining a light on various things within an empire. I guess you could say they show the cracks inside of it.”
Impera is out now via Loma Vista. Metal Hammer's exclusive Ghost cover feature is in stores across the UK and is available to purchase online.
Ghost European tour 2022
Apr 09: Manchester AO Arena, UK
Apr 11: London O2 Arena, UK
Apr 13: Glasgow OVO Arena
Apr 15: Birmingham Resorts World Arena
Apr 17: Rotterdam RTM Stage Ahoy, Holland
Apr 18: Paris Accor Arena, France
Apr 19: Cologne Lanxess Arena, Germany
April 21: Leipzig Quarterback Immobillen Arena, Germany
Apr 22: Frankfurt Festhalle, Germany
Apr 24: Prague Arena, Czech Republic
Apr 27: Tampere Nokia Arena, Finland
Apr 29: Stockholm Avicii Arena, Sweden
Apr 30: Oslo Spektrum, Norway
May 01: Malmo Arena, Sweden
May 03: Brussells Forest, Belgium
May 05: Milan Mediolanum Forum, Italy
May 07: Barcelona Olympic Arena Badalona, Spain
May 08: Madrid Vistalegre Arena, Spain
May 11: Vienna Stadthalle, Austria
May 13: Zurich Hallenstadion, Switzerland
May 15: Hanover Zag Arena, Germany
May 16: Munich Olympiahalle, Germany
May 18: Budapest Arena, Hungary
