Metal Anarchy

During an interview with Kerrang!, Ghost’s Tobias Forge opened up about the band’s hiatus. The singer says he is “not gonna just go back to make an album or force [himself] to make an album for no reason.”

Forge said the following when asked about his decision to take a hiatus following the “Skeletour”:

“There’s a lot of people depending on you, let alone all these people buying tickets. For most of my career, I’ve been very triggered by that, in a positive way. But now, with a lack of a clear direction of where to go, I don’t want to have that responsibility on my shoulder. I can carry that when I’m there, but when I’m not there, it’s too tiresome.”

He went on to say he is “exhausted,” before adding:

“[The ‘Skeletour’ was] pretty much as close as you can get. When you’re done with the big wedding, you’re not gonna get married again immediately after. I don’t want to call it a bookend, but it serves as a great finale. I feel like, ‘If this is it, I’m pretty pleased. This is a fucking great repertoire, great band, they sound phenomenal.’ We managed to do this awesome show most of the nights, and I couldn’t be happier.”

He also discussed his desire to pursue other ventures without being “dictated” by the cyclical nature of recording and touring:

“Everything was great up until the moment when I was sort of eyeing the end of a tour and not knowing for the first time in our career what to do next. And that was kind of the get-the-fuck-out-of-Dodge card, which is: I’m not gonna just go back to make an album or force myself to make an album for no reason. I need to want to make a record. I need to have something to say.

Every other record has been very inspired and there’s been a clear thought, there’s been a purpose. And that was completely generated by my passion to do so — it was never contractual fulfilment or whatever. It was nothing like that. And this time around it was just like, ‘I don’t have an idea.’ I just want to do other things and it doesn’t really mean anything other than that, but it also means that, no, we don’t have anything in the books, and yeah, it’s just a normal hiatus.”

He also confirmed that he is happy right now:

“I am. The big difference is how I’m able to talk to friends. For the last 15 years, I’ll come home [from a Ghost tour] for, like, two weeks, and the first week I’m sick, and the second week, I have to be with my family. I have to take care of people in a proximity level, with the closest ones first.”

He also added that he is able to accept invitations and see friends more often:

“That is important for me. When you’re in your dream-come-true band, it’s all-consuming in terms of time and energy. I’m very happy that I’m able to commit to other things now. I feel great!”