Fan-filmed video footage of GHOST‘s February 2 concert at the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California can be seen below.

Check out photos from Stephanie Cabral. Source: Blabbermouth.net

Photo credit: Stephanie Cabral

David E. Gehlke of Blistering.com recently conducted an interview with one of the “Nameless Ghouls” from the mysterious Swedish buzz band GHOST. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Blistering.com: The whole aspect of the band being anonymous is crucial to what GHOST is about. Does it wear you out having to go to all of these lengths to conceal your identity?

The Nameless Ghoul: Yes and no. On a day-to-day basis when we are home, it can be slightly irritating at times when you have to justify what you are doing. Some of us in the band have experienced people telling us we have to quit our jobs. It’s hard to justify quitting your job because you’re pursuing a musical career, but nobody knows what band you’re in [laughs]. So it gives you an enormous loser tag right in your forehead and you have to say that with the loser tag, and you just fight it [laughs]. That’s one of the weird perks to being in this band. There’s a lot of people in your immediate surrounding that you don’t share a lot of information with. Being away for months at a time, obviously that’s weird when people don’t’ know what you’re doing. On the positive side, you can be released of a lot the negative aspect of being semi-famous or recognized. Some things we are missing out on, but I’m glad to not be a part of that. I prefer being my own individual and doing things with my friends. Fortunately, I’m doing this with a lot of my friends and whenever we choose to step outside of the bubble, we can easily do so. We don’t need to be entertainers or members of the band; nobody expects us to jump onstage the bar. Nobody knows…we could pass as roadies and it would be perfect.

Blistering.com: Living in the age of the Internet, it’s really easy to get information on just about anyone. Are you worried about information being leaked on you guys?

The Nameless Ghoul: As long as we don’t state publicly who we might be, we really don’t see it as a huge problem. We’re not on a worldwide “above-the-radar” basis. We’re still virtually unknown as a band, much different than in a Paris Hilton sort of way [laughs]. As long as we don’t have that as an attraction, there’s really not much [reason] in this group to unfold our true identities. Like a public statement would have to rely on us coming out, and as long as we don’t do that, we can keep on… not even denying, but not even commenting on rumors or what people say.

Blistering.com: What’s the status on the follow-up to [GHOST‘s debut album] “Opus Eponymous”?

The Nameless Ghoul: Most of the material has been written already. Throughout the production and writing, we’ve been using the word “divine” a lot. Whereas with the first album, the sound was slightly “wooden,” we want the new album to be stone and golden in terms of being lavished and divine. So we are trying to paint an even more solemn religion and there’s all sorts of dramatic steps forward. The first album is about the arrival of the anti-Christ, about a coming darkness. The new album will about a current darkness, the presence of the devil, how it relates to divinity and how it’s futile you grasp whatever is divine.

Blistering.com: Considering how successful “Opus Eponymous” was, are you prepared for what should be some extremely high expectations for this album?

The Nameless Ghoul: I can’t honestly say, but I think our sort of relaxed distance from what we’re doing professionally might show that we’re pretty well fit for survival. You never know. We are humans as well and we’re trying to make a record that’s supposed to be better than something a lot of people like, of course there’s some pressure. You deliberately have to try to want to remember why you are doing this in the first place. With the first album, no one had any clue about us. So I think we’ll manage to do it; I think the new album will hopefully as confronting and polarizing as the first one. If it’s not, then it will be a waste of everyone’s time if we try to do 10 more “Rituals”.

Read the entire interview from Blistering.com. Source: Blabbermouth.net

Video footage of GHOST‘s November 30, 2011 concert at 013 in Tilburg, Holland can be viewed below.

Video footage of mysterious Swedish buzz band GHOST‘s entire November 30, 2011 concert at 013 in Tilburg, Holland can be viewed in two parts below.

GHOST has announced that it will embark on its first-ever North American headlining tour in January. GHOST cult leader “Papa Emeritus” (rumored to be REPUGNANT/SUBVISION‘s Tobias Forge, who takes the stage in the form of “a satanic pope”) and his anonymous ghouls will team up with doom rockers BLOOD CEREMONY and ANCIENT VVISDOM for a two-week trek dubbed the “13 Dates Of Doom” tour that will launch on January 18 in New York City.

Source: Blabbermouth.net

METAL BLADE has issued the following:

GHOST is pleased to announce their return to the States for their “13 Dates of Doom” tour featuring direct support from Toronto, Ontario witch rockers Blood Ceremony with Austin TX death rockers Ancient VVisdom opening the tour. The “13 Dates of Doom” tour marks the Ghouls’ first return to the States since their now infamous stops at Maryland Death Fest and The Studio at Webster Hall in NYC after some last minute complications with the Ghouls’ visas prevented the band from performing on the recent Enslaved tour.

The Ghoul with No Name comments “It is with an evil haunting chuckle that we are announcing that we are finally coming to North America. In the name of Satan, we will conduct thirteen rituals in thirteen different cities throughout the United States and Canada and now we are summoning all of our devotees to partake in these blasphemous eves of black magic.”

GHOST cult leader “The Ghoul with No Name” and his anonymous ghouls will be touring in support of the band’s debut album Opus Eponymous, which has been called “must have stuff” by Blistering adding that “Ritual is one of the best classic metal songs in recent memory,” while Alarm Press calls out the album as “wildly catchy and full of melodic twists.” Read below to see what else press has had to say about GHOST’s debut full-length Opus Eponymous.

Go HERE to check out the band performing the song “Satan Prayer” as part of its May 29 headlining set at the 2011 Maryland Deathfest shot by Rev Aaron of ReturnToThePit.com.

GHOST “13 Dates of Doom” Tour featuring Blood Ceremony & Ancient VVisdom
Wed/Jan-18 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
Thu/Jan-19 Washington, DC Rock N Roll Hotel
Fri/Jan-20 Boston, MA Middle East Downstairs
Sat/Jan-21 Montreal, QC Corona Theatre
Sun/Jan-22 Toronto, ON The Mod Club
Tue/Jan-24 Chicago, IL Bottom Lounge
Wed/Jan-25 Minneapolis, MN Station Four
Fri/Jan-27 Denver, CO Marquis Theatre
Sat/Jan-28 Salt Lake City, UT The Vertigo
Mon/Jan-30 Seattle, WA El Corazon
Tue/Jan-31 Portland, OR Hawthorne Theater
Wed/Feb-01 San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill
Thu/Feb-02 Los Angeles, CA The Roxy

In addition to “The Ghoul with No Name,” GHOST is: Guitar – ???, Bass – ???, Drums – ???, Keyboards – ???, Chants – ???.