Ghost’s Tobias Forge has performed a cover of Rolling Stones track Sympathy For The Devil with garage rock band The Hellacopters. The performance aired last Friday as part of Sweden’s nationally televised quiz show På Spåret on TV network SVT.
Forge’s rendition was conducted via his latest persona, Papa Emeritus IV, the fourth guise in Ghost’s epic line of ghoulish frontmen. The artist formerly known as Cardinal Copia was anointed during the band’s only show of 2020 – the last tour date promoting Ghost’s most recent album, Prequelle.
With the stage lit by a fittingly hellish red light, Forge stands at its centre dressed in a matching suit and full face of makeup, and delivers a sombre, more subdued version of the track. The cover ends in a mighty crescendo, backed by The Hellacopters and Forge's mighty wail.
Check the cover out below.
Led by Papa Emeritus IV, new Ghost music is scheduled for Autumn 2021, and will mark the band’s fifth studio album.
Forge revealed last year that work on the album had already begun, telling Billboard that he had “tons of bits and pieces” written. He suggested that the album will be “thematical” in nature and feature “slightly more riffage” than its acclaimed predecessor.
He also revealed to Swedish website VK that while Prequelle touched upon plague deaths and mass hysteria, he wouldn’t be seeking to channel the current global pandemic into his next set of lyrics.
