THE BEAST

GHOST 's Tobias Forge has told Billboard that he is focused on the band's next recording project, which he has been "working on for months now," with plans to be in the studio again by the beginning of 2020 with a release later that year.

"Luckily, this time around, I feel very certain as to what I want to do," Forge said. "I have tons of bits and pieces and stuff written, and I know that once I really start working that there's going to be a record which feels very inspired. The dramaturgic nature of the records and the stories are getting more and more intertwined nowadays, which I like. It's almost like working with a series, I guess; you have your characters and you can still fuck with them and add new things and take things away. You can do whatever you want, which is always enticing from a creative standpoint."

GHOST recently shared a music video for the song "Faith" from the band's fourth and latest studio LP, "Prequelle" . The clip was shot at various stops on GHOST 's hugely successful "A Pale Tour Called Death" North American run. The trek visited nearly 40 cities, including Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and Toronto.

The Pulse Of Radio asked Forge if he thinks that his current stage character, Cardinal Copia , has a chance of becoming Papa Emeritus IV down the line. "I have high hopes for the Cardinal ," he said. "I think he would look fantastic in skull paint, and that's what I'm hoping for. Between now and then, we have a lot of touring ahead and a lot of things that we need to achieve before that. I mean, we're — there's gonna be touring that stretches on into 2020."

GHOST 's 2019 is already packed with international touring, including a four-month run opening for METALLICA this summer, arena shows in Europe, festival gigs in Australia and more. Although Forge has mused about doing an EP this year, those plans seem to be on hold for now.

"Prequelle" debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and features the chart-topping single "Rats" and the Top 5 track "Dance Macabre" .

In December, GHOST nabbed two Grammy nominations, "Best Rock Album" for "Prequelle" and "Best Rock Song" for "Rats" .

Three years ago, GHOST became the first Swedish rock band ever to win a Grammy — 2016's "Best Metal Performance" for the song "Cirice" .

Via Blabbermouth