Ghost mainman Tobias Forge’s unreleased solo album appears to have leaked.
The singer/multi-instrumentalist, more widely known as Ghost’s papal leader Papa Emeritus, recorded an album called Passiflora in 2008 that went officially unreleased and largely unheard.
Only two songs from it, House Of Affection and In Enigma Schiffer, made it onto Youtube, while a physical CD sold for an eye-watering $5,434 (£4,237.95) on Discogs in March 2024.
On February 13, however, Youtuber AnselmeCipher uploaded 41 minutes of music that seems to feature Forge on vocals, including House Of Affection and In Enigma Schiffer, claiming it’s Passiflora in its entirety. Have a listen below.
Metal Hammer previously wrote about Passiflora in an article ranking Forge’s works outside of Ghost. Journalist Matt Mills claimed that House Of Affection and In Enigma Schiffer “flaunt a dreamy, psychedelic style with some characteristically alluring vocals”.
“They’re truly beautiful pieces,” he added, “yet alas, we still haven’t heard the whole thing […] Still, seek the tracks out and you’ll hear plenty of the intrigue that later made Ghost stars.”
Passiflora was recorded during an experimental period of Forge’s career, after the split of his death metal band Repugnant and before Ghost debuted in 2010. During that time, the musician dedicated himself to a number of projects, including dreamy rock outfit Magna Carta Cartel and post-punks Subvision.
In a 2018 interview with Metal Injection, Forge said that, when he started planning Ghost in the late 2000s, his vision was for the band to sound like “the one band from the 70s that you haven’t heard”.
“Sonically, the amount of detail in terms of vocal arrangements and just the hi-fi qualities of what I try to do, it’s very 70s. A lot of grown up bands – Foreigner, Kansas, stuff like that. Well-produced, harmonised,” he said.
“If there’s a reason Ghost sounds like it does it’s because I’ve been such a fan of 60s, 70s and 80s music. There’s a lot of things in there, except for maybe King Crimson, some stuff over the records wouldn’t be written in the 70s, because it’s from someone who likes Necrophagia and Morbid Angel and stuff like that. You don’t have riffs like that, they weren’t made up in 1977!”
Ghost are currently gearing up for a six-month world tour that starts in the UK in April. See dates and details below.
Forge will also appear at Black Sabbath’s blockbuster Back To The Beginning farewell show under the new guise of “Papa V Perpetua”, seemingly replacing the current incarnation of Ghost’s frontman, Papa Emeritus IV.
Ghost 2025 tour dates:
UK:
Apr 15: Manchester AO Arena
Apr 16: Glasgow OVO Hydro
Apr 19: London The O2
Apr 20: Birmingham Utilita Arena
Europe:
Apr 22: Antwerp Sportpaleis, Belgium
Apr 23: Frankfurt Festhalle, Germany
Apr 24: Munich Olympiahalle, Germany
Apr 26: Lyon LDLC Arena, France
Apr 27: Toulouse Zenith Metropole, France
Apr 29: Lisbon MEO Arena, Portugal
Apr 30: Madrid Palacio Vistalegre, Spain
May 03: Zurich AG Hallenstadion, Switzerland
May 04: Milan Unipol Forum, Italy
May 07: Berlin Uber Arena, Germany
May 08: Amsterdam Ziggo Dome, Netherlands
May 10: Lodz Atlas Arena, Poland
May 11: Prague O2 Arena, Czech Republic
May 13: Paris Accor Arena, France
May 14: Oberhausen Rudolph Weber Arena, Germany
May 15: Hannover ZAG Arena, Germany
May 17: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
May 20: Tampere Nokia Arena, Finland
May 22: Linköping Saab Arena, Sweden
May 23: Sandviken Göransson Arena, Sweden
May 24: Oslo Spektrum, Norway
USA:
Jul 09: Baltimore CFG Bank Arena, MD
Jul 11: Atlanta State Farm Arena, GA
Jul 12: Tampa Amalie Arena, FL
Jul 13: Miami Kaseya Center, FL
Jul 15: Raleigh PNC Arena, NC
Jul 17: Cleveland Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, OH
Jul 18: Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena, PA
Jul 19: Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center, PA
Jul 21: Boston TD Garden, MA
Jul 22: New York Madison Square Garden, NY
Jul 24: Detroit Little Caesars Arena, MI
Jul 25: Louisville KFC Yum! Center, KY
Jul 26: Nashville Bridgestone Arena, TN
Jul 28: Grand Rapids Van Andel Arena, MI
Jul 29: Milwaukee Fiserv Forum, WI
Jul 30: St Louis Enterprise Center, MO
Aug 01: Rosemont Allstate Arena, IL
Aug 02: Saint Paul Xcel Energy Center, MN
Aug 03: Omaha CHI Health Center, NE
Aug 05: Kansas City T-Mobile Center, MO
Aug 07: Denver Ball Arena, CO
Aug 09: Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena, NV
Aug 10: San Diego Viejas Arena, CA
Aug 11: Phoenix Footprint Center, AZ
Aug 14: Austin Moody Center ATX, TX
Aug 15: Fort Worth Dickies Arena, TX
Aug 16: Houston Toyota Center, TX
Mexico:
Sep 24: Mexico City Palacio De Los Deportes
