If 2022 proved anything in the world of heavy metal, it was that a song doesn't have to be new to blow up in fresh and exciting ways. From Metallica's Master Of Puppets reaching a whole new audience via its legendary appearance in the latest season of Stranger Things, to Ghost's Mary On A Cross unexpectedly exploding on TikTok, it seems it's never too late for a song to have a major second wind.
Another recent example of Mary On A Cross's newfound fame was its appearance in a reaction video by vocal coach and YouTube personality Beth Roars. Beth, based in Perthshire, Scotland, and with over ten years' experience in the industry, remarks at the start of the video that Mary On A Cross has "come up in the comments a lot", suggesting that Ghost fans are keen for her to give her official verdict on the song. She then admits that she doesn't know an awful lot about Ghost other than that "the lead singer is a character and he wears a mask", before hitting play on the live version of Mary Of A Cross that the band released last year.
Over the following seven minutes, Beth nods approvingly at the track, stopping it at various points to dissect Papa Emeritus' impressive vocal skills, noting early on that the frontman - played by Ghost mastermind Tobias Forge - has a "really good voice".
"I think, in the darkness of their songs, it's quite bright," she later suggests. "It feels very uplifting," Evidently liking what she's hearing, Beth analyses the song structures and harmonies that Ghost employ, eventually concluding: "I really enjoyed that! I really enjoy, also, in his [Papa's] speaking voice, that almost Joker-esque sort of sound, and how he really embodies that character."
Put short: Beth totally gets it and seems to be one of the countless latest Ghost converts!
Watch the video below.
Mary On A Cross, originally released as a b-side on Ghost's 2019 single Kiss The Go-Goat, experienced a sudden surge in popularity last year after its inclusion in a number of TikTok crazes. Speaking to Metal Hammer in November, Forge revealed the moment he knew Mary On A Cross had gone viral.
"I think it was my daughter who spotted it first," Forge explained. "She said, 'I heard Mary On A Cross on TikTok.' She's done that before with other songs. Then I was summoned to a label meeting and they were like, 'Are you aware of what's going on?', and they started presenting stats."
"We attracted so many new people who got sucked into this and fell into the rabbit hole of everything that we created," he added. "And that's a great thing because you always need more people."
Ghost tour Europe this summer before hitting North America later in the year.
