Metal Sludge Gossip Board

Hey, I'm just asking questions.

I know a couple guys in their 50s that are big fans, but they are both horror/comic book nuts, so I’d say children and horror/comic book nuts.

I’m not at all into the schtick but like the music. I was into Magna Carta Cartel back in the early 2000s.

I love Ghost, and have been to 12 rituals in the past 10 years. Their shtick isn’t for everyone, but it think it’s awesome !!

Didn't used to be that way in the early years. I saw them 4 times from the first time they came to the US until the Popestar EP. I still listen to them and like them, but the fanbase has apparently skewed to the kids. Been that way for a while.

mrsnikkisixx wrote: ↑Tue Mar 04, 2025 6:07 pm I love Ghost, and have been to 12 rituals in the past 10 years. Their shtick isn’t for everyone, but it think it’s awesome !!

Ugh. You've been to 12 shows.

Are they devil worshipers?

I saw them in 2023, saw Kiss for the first time in 1980.
Ghost gig was great fun.
If they come back I’ll prolly go again.

Ghost is like Paula Abdul - highest quality that tours

I think more girls like Ghost than Kiss.

I’m 51 and love Ghost. Have seen them 11 or 12 times so far, have tickets for a couple shows in July . New song is dope

Nate S Axel wrote: ↑Tue Mar 04, 2025 8:42 pm They're certainly no Gost, that's for sure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tasuompk6_Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guT3VviRauM

I stumbled on Gost watching Ghost videos a couple years ago, they’re not bad actually

mrsnikkisixx wrote: ↑Tue Mar 04, 2025 6:07 pm I love Ghost, and have been to 12 rituals in the past 10 years. Their shtick isn’t for everyone, but it think it’s awesome !!

I was fine with Ghost and their schtick until two minutes ago when you called their shows ‘rituals’.

I saw them open for Maiden some years ago, they were laughable.

TheCULTofMANSON wrote: ↑Tue Mar 04, 2025 10:42 pm I’m 51 and love Ghost. Have seen them 11 or 12 times so far, have tickets for a couple shows in July . New song is dope

How excited are you when a NEW PAPA!!! is introduced?

Some of the Ghost music is actually pretty good, but the infatuation with the whole image/schtick is kinda like going to see KISS on the Dynasty tour and instead of the hall half filled with pre-teen kids and half filled with their moms, it was half filled with pre-teen kids and half filled with 50 year old comic book geeks.

To me, GHOIST is to metal what SCREAM was to slasher films. Like a "modern day" parody/homage to what came before it but not really anything "new". They are like a Parody of Venom/Mercyful Fate and early Slayer (and Misfits, I guess) with slicker production-value.

I have two very good friends who are both big horror/comic nuts and were into Ghost from the very, very beginning. When Meloria came out I decided to give them a chance and like quite a bit of that album. I also liked some of the early stuff which, if you were an old-school Mercyful Fate fan like I am, were kinda cool. They were like Fate for people who didn't like King's falsetto vocals. These friends are also big BOC fans and I could hear some of those comparisons as well. I think I saw them live twice that tour and then once the next album with the "Cardinal" (aka father Guido Sarducci) character. The shows were good, the band was tight (or maybe half-canned which is what it sounded like to me). But then they just got a little less good after that, musically speaking, for me anyway and I actually love symphonic rock/metal. That one song that sounded exactly like a crappy '80s SCORPIONS song was horrible. Of course, I was never into the whole image schtick thing though because I am not retarded or ten-years-old anymore like when KISS was my world.

I actually thought what was going to happen was a brilliant bait-and-switch where the "anti-pope" character was going to keep de-aging until after another album or two it would just be "Tobias" selling kids and middle-aged dudes his not-as-successful-before-Ghost pop songs. He kinda dropped the cardinal/disguise thing on the one tour mid-show and I think the original pope-version was super-old looking and I thought he's just get younger with each album until..."surprise", it's just Tobias. I actually thought that was a real genius move if he was just playing the long-game. But I guess not since I think they are still doing the pope thing? I don't really know (or care).

I know how bad it sucked to be humiliated by the other kids for being a KISS fan post-Dynasty, but I cannot even imagine the feeling of being a middle-aged Ghost "fan" calling their concerts "rituals" with a straight face. Are these guys the types who like a stiletto heel grinding their nutsack while they are forced to jerk off in a little dog bed?

Wiseacre wrote: ↑Wed Mar 05, 2025 2:24 am I know how bad it sucked to be humiliated by the other kids for being a KISS fan post-Dynasty,

Humiliation is kinda your thing though, at least that's what your wife says.

Wiseacre wrote: ↑Wed Mar 05, 2025 2:24 am but I cannot even imagine the feeling of being a middle-aged Ghost "fan" calling their concerts "rituals" with a straight face. Are these guys the types who like a stiletto heel grinding their nutsack while they are forced to jerk off in a little dog bed?

Says guy pretending to be Bob Ezrin and massively upset that the KissFAQ won't give him the reach around he so clearly believes he deserves.

Do you still make your Gene and Paul Mego dolls argue over who "Bob" likes better?

For my money, the image and schtick are AT LEAST half Ghost’s value as a band.

It’s called fun.
It’s called showmanship.
It’s called a spectacle.
It’s called entertainment.

The songs have to be there, of course, and it all comes together as a live experience. Remember when concerts were called ‘shows’? I sure do. Those once common visual production values are desperately missing from most acts today.

I challenge every rock and metal band to make me an offer I can’t refuse. Give me a REASON to drag my pretty ass off the sofa and out to a live show. Otherwise, I’ll just stay home for free and listen to Spotify.

Ghost is one of the few bands doing it right these days.

Hatchets Molly wrote: ↑Tue Mar 04, 2025 5:48 pm I’m not at all into the schtick but like the music.

I'm the same way. Great riffs and music, absolutely stupid schtick/lyrics. I feel similarly to Kiss, although Ghost are way better musicians than anyone in Kiss can pretend to be.

Spongie wrote: ↑Wed Mar 05, 2025 6:23 am For my money, the image and schtick are AT LEAST half Ghost’s value as a band.

It’s called fun.
It’s called showmanship.
It’s called a spectacle.
It’s called entertainment.

The songs have to be there, of course, and it all comes together as a live experience. Remember when concerts were called ‘shows’? I sure do. Those once common visual production values are desperately missing from most acts today.

I challenge every rock and metal band to make me an offer I can’t refuse. Give me a REASON to drag my pretty ass off the sofa and out to a live show. Otherwise, I’ll just stay home for free and listen to Spotify.

Ghost is one of the few bands doing it right these days.

In the same way as those that came before.... Alice Cooper... KISS.... King Diamond... etc.... the music absolutely has to be there or else I don't care, but the all the extra stuff just adds to the fun.

KISS fans complaining / mocking this stuff is just sour grapes. Ghost is 15 years in and hasn't peaked. When KISS was 15 years in, they were churning out absolutely forgettable schlock and nobody barely gave a shit about them.

Zinny wrote: ↑Tue Mar 04, 2025 10:15 pm I think more girls like Ghost than Kiss.

True. My friend Michelle just bought a ticket for the May show in Paris (in the rafters, floor is entirely soldout).

Myself, I really dig Meliora and a bunch of songs from their catalogue... I might even try to score a cheap ticket to their upcoming show.

NeonKnite wrote: ↑Wed Mar 05, 2025 6:31 amGhost is 15 years in and hasn't peaked.

Delusional.

No not at all. They have fans of all ages.

If y’all want children’s music just listen to the Beatles.

Boys and Girls… Sesame Street proudly presents… The Beatles!




All you need is love
All you need is love
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need
Love, love, love
Love, love, love
Love, love, love
All you need is love
All you need is love
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need

Ghost has alot of great songs. They are playing Madison Square Garden this summer.

I was really into Meliora for awhile but that song He Is creeped me out after enough listens. Great band. Sick mind.

Chip Z'Hoy wrote: ↑Wed Mar 05, 2025 7:39 am

NeonKnite wrote: ↑Wed Mar 05, 2025 6:31 amGhost is 15 years in and hasn't peaked.

Delusional.

This is their first tour where they're being booked into A Market major arenas, so yeah you're wrong.

Band is bigger than ever.

HottKarl777 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 05, 2025 10:16 am I was really into Meliora for awhile but that song He Is creeped me out after enough listens. Great band. Sick mind.

Go pray to your imaginary Jeebus.

HottKarl777 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 05, 2025 10:16 am I was really into Meliora for awhile but that song He Is creeped me out after enough listens. Great band. Sick mind.

"He Is" is one of the absolute BEST Ghost songs. Fucking amazing, and Tobias seems like a good dude.

I think a lot of Ghost's fan base is older, people who like melodic rock and grew up with hair metal and KISS. And yeah, there are some kids who like them too, which I think is great. A fan base with a lot of diverse ages leads to longevity and bigger venues, which is why Ghost is now headlining arenas.