Artist: Ghost
Venue: Barclays Center
Opener: n/a
Date: 12/15/2018
Label: Loma Vista Recordings
There is a spectre haunting the world, the spectre of Ghost. Having gone from playing theaters only a year ago to dominating the same sold-out arenas as Iron Maiden, Ghost is a phenomena. From an outsider’s non-metal perspective, Ghost is “basically a satanic Alice Cooper mixed with KISS and a little bit of Marilyn Manson, right?” Although a decent attempt to brand Ghost with a single visual label, this endeavor is ill-fated as it forgoes the group’s depth, and even insults Ghost’s core ideology, and musical wizardry.
So if Ghost isn’t just a satanic Alice-KISS-Manson mashup, what are they and how is what they do any different from the others? Easy. Ghost, as explained by frontman Tobias Forge, is a Mass, a celebration if you will. An evil satanic Mass celebrating the Lord of the Underworld, you ask? Nay. The Ghost spectacle is a celebration of life, knowledge, exploration, and of course, heavy riffs, big drums, and a bass line that will “wobble your ass,” as Cardinal Copia might say. Still not following how a bunch of Swedes (or so we think) dressed up as ghouls commanded by the antithesis of religious piety is actually a loving, caring, and genius gift to the fate of humankind? Fair enough. Without going into further examination of their lyrical content, as I faithfully believe you can research the true meaning behind most songs by a click of a mouse, let’s highlight Ghost’s 2018 tour: A Pale Tour Named Death.