Ghost frontman Tobias Forge’s unreleased solo music appeared on YouTube.
Forge, known as Papa Emeritus in Ghost, recorded an album called ‘Passiflora’ in 2008 but never officially released it, according to Metal Hammer.
Only two songs, ‘House of Affection’ and ‘In Enigma Schiffer,’ were uploaded to YouTube. A physical CD of the album was sold for $5,434 (£4,237.95) on Discogs in March 2024.
On February 13, YouTuber AnselmeCipher uploaded 41 minutes of music that appears to feature Forge on vocals. It includes ‘House of Affection’ and ‘In Enigma Schiffer,’ claiming to be the full ‘Passiflora’ album.
According to Journalist Matt Mills, ‘House of Affection’ and ‘In Enigma Schiffer’ “flaunt a dreamy, psychedelic style with some characteristically alluring vocals.”
He added, “They’re truly beautiful pieces, 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.”
Forge recorded ‘Passiflora’ during an experimental phase, after Repugnant split and before Ghost’s 2010 debut. During this time, he worked on projects like Magna Carta Cartel and Subvision.
In 2018, Forge told Metal Injection that when he planned Ghost in the late 2000s, he wanted it to sound like a forgotten ’70s band. He explained, “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.”
The singer continued, “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 is preparing for a six-month world tour starting in the UK in April. Forge will also join Black Sabbath’s ‘Back to the Beginning’ farewell show as ‘Papa V Perpetua,’ possibly replacing Papa Emeritus IV.
