Diving into SKELETA with Tobias Forge of GHOST | Morbid | Podcast | Forensic Files

hey weirdos I'm Ash I'm Elena and I am Tobias and this is a very special episode of morbid
[Music] this is a very special episode of morbid that we have been lightly teasing for a
few weeks I'm sure everybody's like what the [ __ ] is going on who is coming on
this show lightly uh today we have prolific songwriter and Storyteller with 10 billion streams which is astronomical
five Grammy nominations American Music Awards iHeart Radio Music Awards and a vast Congregation of very devout fans we
have Tobias Forge from Ghost welcome to morbid thank you so much much you're making me blush here that's the plan
right out the gate thank you so much for talking to us this is awesome um you've
had you just came off of really in the last few months an epic tour I would say is the the least way we can describe it
it was basically two years yeah yeah I guess I guess it's stretched over two years I I don't remember exactly but but
something like that yeah it's insane you also just put out the highest grossing Hard Rock Cinema event North America no
big deal casual yeah very casual uh you've gone on kind of like a media sabatical in between and you've written
an entire album um and you also collaborated with Darkhorse Comics to expand the whole ghost lore with a four
issue comic book Arc which is really cool are you a vampire is our first question or do you sleep considering the
fatigue I feel I'm apparently not no no let's put it this way I mean in last year when I was work on on the record
simultaneous with the film there were there were definitely moments where I felt like clear signs that big Endeavors
like that are better handled singularly I don't whatever you call it you do one thing at a time it's it's very hard to
keep Focus somehow I managed to do that but it's it was definitely hard you know
the good thing about the film was that a large part of it was based on footage that we'd already you know secured that
that we'd already shot in in La so that was you know a a good Lion Share of uh the content if you will you know
sometimes with making records or making making films you just have to stay on script you just you just do what we
decided my problem is that I don't really I don't really work like that I'm I'm I'm sort of off the cuff do
improvising stuff and so it any project will demand a lot of my mental presence and acut which is uh fun when you've
done it but it can be really tiresome and I've definitely sort of uh not to be agist here but I but I'm sort of
approaching that age when I I start feeling a little bit of uh results when things get a little bit too much so that
makes sense yeah but you know obviously it wasn't too much because I'm here now yeah you're doing okay I feel like it's
working out yeah you know I feel about that I lit if I do two book signings in like a week I'm like toast for three
weeks so I have no idea how you did two full years of a tour and did all the things you did afterwards I would be
gone yeah I don't know what to answer that I mean but it's also the good thing this is the the weird thing about my my
job compared to um you know friends that I have that make films or or friends that I have that are just writing songs
all the time that might not have much of an artistic career but more just like writing and is that they just go from
one creative to another and even though I'm you know constantly creating to a certain degree I also flip-flop between
a creative period to uh a less creative period that is the tour where you you you're creative in the
beginning but it is actually more of a dare I say more of like a normal job in the you you show up in time and you
do your job and then you're done yeah right the creative work is done job is like never to make the thing always what
it's like the creative part is like I have to make this whole thing and then that's just like all right let's go
through the we got to do it now yeah that makes sense yeah well before we get to we're going to go fully into what is
next for ghost what has happened I had one quick little side quest I needed to take you on before we get into it mhm I
don't know if you have heard but they think that they have named Jack the Ripper MH and I need to know if you
think that they named Jack the Ripper tell tell me his name so you haven't they think it's Aaron cossky okay
no they I don't know if you've ever because I know you're like you're into the case you've researched the case
obviously yes have you heard of like the Katherine Edo Shaw that they claim was at the crime
yes I I know that there there is a uh there is a DNA question mark on that yeah that's a huge they for some reason
it's been everywhere that they are 100% sure that this Shaw is led to the identity and they think it's Aaron
cossky and the reason I bring this up is because a lot of our listeners we did like a four episode you know deep deep
dive into Jack the Ripper and I think I did it was like my I couldn't stop researching it so of course I've been
asked a million times what I think of this whole thing thing if they've really named him and it's
infuriating not people asking me but the fact that they're saying that this is 100% Jack the Ripper but I needed to
know if you had heard about it and if you were like oh yeah it's Aaron kosminsky or if you were like
[Music] no all right so I'm going to let Tobias finish in a second I promise but before
I do that I just need to let you guys know that we had very limited time with Tobias this time around uh so I really
wanted to make sure that you guys heard my feelings on Jack the Ripper and I didn't want to just like vomit them all
over Tobias and use up all our time so here's the thing I don't think they have found Jack the Ripper not one part of me
thinks it in fact um there's many reasons for that the fact that this has been a thing that comes around every few
years is a big red flag to me and it's the same person bringing around every few years and not really updating any of
the actual info uh that sh that they're claiming they have this DNA from is a Shaw that they're claiming is found was
found at Katherine Edo's crime scene um one they have no way of knowing that the
only way of knowing that would be if it was among the exhaustive list of her items that were found at um on and
around her at the crime scene that is well documented and it is nowhere there is nowhere that says there is like an 8T
long really expensive Shaw that might actually even be a table runner found on her person nowhere
so if we don't have that then how do we know that this thing is hers and how do we know that it was found at the crime
scene here's your answer we don't so there's a big giant hole of doubt that has already been thrust through this
entire thing uh I don't think it was found at the crime scene I think she would have sold it at one point I don't
think she would have held on to that kind of Shaw I mean there's all kinds of stories of her selling you know shoes
earlier in the day and selling anything that was on her uh just doesn't make sense to me I don't I don't buy that one
at all furthermore the story of this whole thing is that uh Sergeant Amos Simpson was the one who was said to have
taken this Shaw from the crime scene a supposed blood soaked Shaw he took from the crime scene one that would have been
a immense risk to do that and two I think we all need to remember what I said a thousand times during our Jack
the Ripper series we can't really comprehend how dark these crime scenes were there was no light we're going by
candlelight you're telling me that this man plucked a blood soaked Shaw from a crime scene and just brought it home for
his wife I don't buy that also there's the fact that Amos Simpson was a Metro cop he was a metropolitan police officer
miter Square where Katherine edos was found that is London PD jurisdiction he has no business being there and even if
he is there he has no business at that crime scene so that gives me pause the DNA the DNA
we don't even know what it is it might be blood it might be semen they have no definitive answer for that so that 100%
match I don't believe they don't even know what the actual DNA source is for this and also there is no evidence of
him leaving Seaman at scenes of course he can depart from his pattern of course that's happened before I am fully
willing to admit that and I'm willing to accept that if there's other pieces of evidence along with it but the fact that
he never did this and there was never evidence of any classic sexual assault or rape at any of these scenes it was
really violence and mutilation it doesn't really fit with the pattern and once again I'm willing
to admit that a pattern can be broken if you give me other evidence to tell me that that's so I just don't see it here
the DNA itself it's mitochondrial DNA that's what they're not telling you in any of these things this is not straight
up DNA this is mitochondrial DNA it can eliminate a suspect but it cannot identify a suspect absolute anyone in
the maternal line of this DNA match can also be the person this is can be thousands of people thousands of people
in London can match this DNA so that's not good enough for me that's not identifying that is you can eliminate
and also just to put a pin on this the researcher who has put this forward is Russell Edwards uh he doesn't have a
track record that I'm willing to follow here really um I'm I will of course give
benefit of the doubt if he can provide more evidence but he also claimed once and so did his team that they found um a
victim of Ian Brady and Myra Henley that has been missing for decades and decades
Keith Bennett uh and his family has been looking for his body on those Mor forever and hoping to find his body on
those Moors and it was really [ __ ] up that his team basically announced on social media that they had found Keith
Bennett and they hadn't uh so that upsets me that makes me question it of course one massive Monumental mistake
doesn't mean that you can never do anything good in your life so if he can provide more evidence that says this is
a 100% DNA match which I don't believe he can that I'm willing to listen to it but no Aaron kosminsky is not Jack the
Ripper M drop I am very interested in the subject and um I I definitely don't think it there
is ksky no okay I'm glad you agree because it's been driving me insane yeah Alena's been going down Rabbit Hole
after Rabbit Hole every once in a while I'll just yell out like another thing that makes like doesn't make sense about
this but everybody's running with it but that is my official statement right here
and Tobias Forge agrees it is not Aaron kinsky well yeah as I I think I spoke about
this last time as well is that uh the problem with most uh most of the um names that been that's been thrown
around is that what they all have in common is that they somehow have some exotic or you know weird treat that
makes them um eccentric or typically weird it's interesting how in this case especially now when we know so much more
about serial cures um I don't blame people back then to be sort of dumpf and sort of screwing
up everything when it came to the uh to the investigation but it's interesting how we now have a tendency to to believe
that this case is so different from every other serial killer in the history of serial
killers we know now that serial killers are not ex necessarily an eccentric weirdo [ __ ] openly and have circus you
know know that they are more likely to be like perfectly functional family men yeah they blend in
there's this um very interesting reoccurring it's sort of part of the Mainframe of the story that if if you
believe in the the the limitation of the canonical 5 that after um Mary Kelly no
one can can do that that number on on another person physically could subject someone to that Ultraviolence without
losing their minds yeah that's like a very exited that that do that and way worse and then
they sit and speak coherently and uh and go have dinner with their family yeah so their kids up
from dayare it's really uh fascinating as as an anop like a like a human social experiment talking and and listening to
theories about this because yeah it's mired in such a Mist that and that for some reason makes people sort of
completely unrealistic um but you know I'm also like just an amateur I don't know who
did it I I I can't present you with facts that that will and that's the difference is you're saying I don't know
who did it I I don't know who did it yeah and same I don't either I don't think any of us do no this drives me
it's been very widely reported as like 100% we figured out who did it yeah like fully fact like what this is from the 18
this way then it will serve me well if people think it's Aaron kmy for for sometime yeah so continue thinking that
okay it's officially him yeah okay 100% Tobias is going to come mic drop later there you go there's so many little
things about it but I won't get into it because I can literally talk about this for like six hours and you don't have
that so let's take it back we're going to talk about the imperator which again you toured for almost two years it was
seven legs we were at a few of them it was an amazing tour uh congrats on that success by the way and again the stamina
that it took to do that um thank you so much you're welcome and it had I feel like towards the end of that tour
everyone became kind of like in a flutter of like what's going to happen and like what's what's next and it it
was like a very it had like its own like Mythos you could hear like people talking about it and everywhere you went
about it so but luckily we didn't have to wait too long because you chronicled like you said the final two performances
of the tour in the film here right now which again I just need to State it's the highest grossing Hard Rock Cinema
event North America which is a crazy title to hold um but you ended that on the Cliffhanger of all Cliffhangers like
right before revealing Papa five one thing I have to ask you is I was in one of those audiences watching that film
and the first thing I heard very clearly when the credits rolled was someone behind me yell very lovingly [ __ ] you
Tobias Forge like at the top of their lungs so mad cuz they were like like what the [ __ ] did you feel audiences
cursing you at the end of that like did you know that people were going to be like no I went to uh the premiere here
in London I'm currently in London so I was here for the premiere so that was the first
time uh I saw it with essentially a bunch of strangers and there was this murmur
a no one like there there was csed not no cursing but yeah there there was definitely a a noise that signal
Grumble that went through the ground it's your gotcha moment it is it was such a good gotcha moment it's your
gotcha moment yeah yeah it was like right up to it then just like oh yeah then closed the door uh so in that film
there's like a lot of Illusions to Twins and a lot of implications that there's twins involved in some other capacity
than what we've seen is there can you tell us anything about that or should we just like shut up and wait no it's easy
it's more fun if you as a fan you get to follow the story the way that I've rolled it out with the comic and onward
I it's it's a boring way to to explain it but it's it's just better explained that way I I'm I'm fascinated not in a
like a mangala sort of way about about twins but I I think that the there is a um there is this I mean obviously I do
happen to have two children who are twins me too but there I think that there is this
fascination with especially when it comes to grownup people who've been separated at Birth for this that or the
other reason um sometimes by accident sometime by choice sometimes by you know force uh more more than often it's it's
been a a a result of you know girls who basically couldn't take care of their children and
wasn't at that point maybe equipped or or uh had the ability to take care of children so they had no choice but to
leave them up for adoption and and um you know there are cases where where uh they they have felt forced to give up
one and um I've always been fascinated with I don't know the concept of family ties and and Bloodlines and and all that
and I think that that that comes not necessarily from the fact that I have twins myself but it come comes also from
the fact I have um several adopted siblings and um you know just a few years ago I did what most people or a
lot of people do nowadays you do the ancestry and you know you you check your DNA and and and then you get like a
whole slew of people that you're related to over the place and you know it dawned
on me pretty quickly that if some of my siblings would do that their thing is completely different like they they
belong to some other family with their own background and their own everything and um I I really wish that they did in
a way but as far as I know they haven't because it's it's it's such a trauma for
them I I oh yeah I can imagine so I when I say the word fascinating it's not always like from a joyful it's it's it's
from a it it's really affecting stuff and and it really can do a number on on someone when you learn something
about your life and especially if you feel that something that you believe was true was all of a sudden not true uh in
in in my family case they are very well aware that they are adopted so that so that is not a thing but I'm just saying
that it's it never does it become more clear and one does the test and you know you can trace back into the other one
who is like oh that's cool oh look at that that's a surprise and that's like a relatively new thing too so I feel like
that's like a whole new generation of people experiencing that like very specific and very unique kind of trauma
sometimes mhm because we didn't always have these tests that we could just like send away for and get the results on
your phone no so it's very interesting no it's it's an interesting concept and and U I think for the most part is it's
a really good thing I I I do believe that simply put knowing your history and and I found it to be very humbling to be
able to look at my family tree and seeing all these people obviously I most of them I couldn't see photos of or I
could only see names but you know watching generation of generation of people struggling and more than often
especially when you go back a hundred years and it was it's common that you see um you know Mom and Dad that gets
like 12 kids yeah out of six of them die like a year two years three years and that was just normal back then it
was a completely normal thing for us it's like that's a cataclysmic event oh yeah you can't even I'm not saying that
they they weren't suffering but I'm just saying that it was like a completely different time and um they spent very
probably spent very little time uh wallowing in Affairs and worldwide things that didn't bother that that
wasn't directly affecting them and they just kept head straight and and they worked and and they made sure that the
kids that survived survived and and um you know I I have a tremendous amount of respect what's the word humility for
like all that work that was put in in order for me to sit here and talk [ __ ] that's a good way to look at it
actually yeah that's what they did it for so we could sit here and talk [ __ ] yeah you know yeah well getting away
from the last tour and heading into the future a little bit this album I was lucky enough to listen to it it's this
new album is it's like a masterpiece I'm obsessed with it I love it it might be I think
it's my favorite so far it's really really good I can't get over it I wanted to like scream it from the rooftops I
really can't and I know you're probably like oh that's what you tell everyone it's not I doesn't I really don't I
loved this one I loved it immediately from the first note um and again like this album feels it's just got like a
different feel to it and it feels more personal and a little more like introspective like it just has a
different vibe to it a very good different vibe can you tell us a little bit about why if I'm correct why you
might have went in that direction with this one yeah I simply put the the previous record especially was such a
channeling of of of me deciphering external influence and um I felt that uh even
though I I mean I'm I'm super proud of imper I thought that that that that was the record that I wanted to do at the
time nothing wrong with that but I felt not at all inspired to go back and make uh a uh you know a sequel to that like
an impera to even though I mean obviously there's plenty of fodder if if you want to have like continued on that
path but I just felt that that's not inspiring that's not it doesn't that is simply not what I need and uh and and
therefore hence I don't think that that's what my like people are interested in what I
think uh feel or need either I'd rather make a a a a more introspective record that that deals with
Evergreen feelings and basic um human sentiments and still hope it it definitely comes across in this one like
each one I feel like is kind of like a like a little mini movie that you can see in your head and it feels like
there's sentiments in each one that you can relate to on some level in some part
of your life you know what I mean like they all have that that's why this one like struck me as so different but it
was different in the best kind of way I'm glad you say that I um this you know at some point when you when you you you
uh you you sketch out this little idea that oh so this is a thematic concept and and these are a few songs that I've
been fiddling with and it's it there's always this um process when you're when you're practically putting together a
record and and you know at the end of the day I mean regard regardless of what message that you want to stay on point
with uh you know it still needs to be like a entertaining uh piece of work of piece of art that that you know with
with Rhymes and new words and so there there's so many hurdles to go from like a pure pure intuitive idea to actually
looking at like 42 minutes of qualitative entertainment yeah that must I can't imagine that having to boil it
all down to that and making it like palatable yeah I mean but that's that's what I do I love that but but it's
definitely like it's always a challenge oh I'm sure fun challenge but but it's always um especially when you're trying
to do thematic things that's why I'm that's why sometimes I'm also like using the theme as as like a it's that's a
loose direction that I that I've used as a more originally most for myself in order to sort of stay on on brand might
be the but stay on point stay on stay focused so I know where not to go stay the course yeah did you have a bit of a
different process writing the songs this time around no no same process same process all right it's simply because I
don't I don't really have one go-to process um so I was using the same process C's this is I think that this
was the first time first record where I worked with collaborators that I and I I
worked only with collaborators that I've worked with quite a lot before I didn't
have any new any new blood so we were we were working with with with a certain amount of Rapport and background which
was very comforting um because you trust the other people you trust them you know
that we're we're working towards uh the same goal and everybody has you know the
intent of making making everything as good as possible I know that no one who the hell would go into a production with
with the opposite you never know be weird you just never know anymore you definitely feel sometimes that someone
is phoning it in and especially if if it's like a big production with a lot of people and obviously someone is there
someone is there because they're getting paid so and and they're they're functional too so it's that's not a
problem but yeah nobody it was it was quite closely knit and we we were not like a big bunch of people working on
this one um you know as some of you fans might know that that we I uh basically have a little bit of a divide between
how I make the records and and then whom is performing on stage and uh you know uh across um you
know my 15 years career as as this band i' I've I've experimented a little bit with that but I've leared the hard way
that it's if if you're not going to use everyone it's better to use no one like if if not everybody's being called in
for their ability and and and and their their special gift um anybody who's excluded from that is gonna they're
gonna take that the wrong way it's not going to be great yeah so it's just better I've just found it more
comforting and more more productive and nicer to everybody to just work with others and then once we get the band
together you know then we haven't nagged each other down haven't worn each other
down throughout the process of making a record which a lot of other bands do you
know once Road they have already been in the studio and you know killing each other for a year oh yeah you hear about
that all the time some of the greatest bands like Fleetwood Mac wanted to kill each other half the time MH yeah making
records especially if you are collaborating it is very um I don't have a better word it's it's an intimate
process I'm sure you know it's it's a very you have to you have to be very open and and and and daring well
and it's kind of like you're letting your own like personal Journal your own diary you're giving it to a bunch of
people to kind of help make into something that everyone's going to listen to to I can't imagine that no
that but that it's pretty much what you do of course when you've done it a couple times you don't it's it's simply
not a part of your it's kind of like getting naked with someone you're together with like it's that it's not a
thing after a while that you're you know uh and and and once you you you've started writing with someone
and and and it feels good it it it does come more natural you don't have to that
initial Obstacle of you know having to put Shades down mhm well and we the first single video
for that is coming out from this album is satanized and it when this episode airs it has come out already that video
is amazing loved that video it is the first reveal of Papa five Papa perpetua and it's a phenomenal reveal at the end
of the video um I think Ash actually filmed me watching it for the first time and I was like speechless I I couldn't
even form words uh I have a couple of questions about that video and again if you can't answer just say absolutely not
uh is that you heavily heavily made up as the priest uh yes I mean I knew it but the point is not that it's me
it's point that it's a priest yes I want people to focus on it's a priest yeah yeah I I mean of course I mean I
understand that people will sort of notice it's it's it's a good hard good Prosthetics but it's obviously not uh to
the point where I'm completely Beyond but the song itself had has a um so this is how meta and weird ghost is
sometimes love that the song is written in eye form eye perspective but on the record
Papa the fifth perpetua is singing pretending to be another character right oh I think I'm right
about my theory Elena has quite a theory and I I think you just confirmed it because Papa the fifth perpetua is a
singer in a band so as any other band who has songs that are written in I form can be about someone else they're
not always about their personal experience the the uh the yeah them personally oh that's good to know oh so
in the video a u that a a problem sort of arose because of this because we needed U my
idea was for this L stricken monk to go through the hurdles of confusing his infatuation with with being possessed
and of course his surroundings within the monastery of course Dave they confirm that the symptoms that're
showing is clearly the sickness of being possessed by a demon and the cure for this is um you know an exorcism and and
repentance and and and all that so technically you know it was important that okay so I'm mean obviously I can't
transform into Papa that becomes really poor and bad yeah so we needed to have a
another character coming in so we had this this uh he's a Swedish actor I don't know if
any guys you recognize him he was familiar but I couldn't I didn't know if it was just because he has a very kind
face no his his name is uh I'm I hope I say this right internationally like David
denic and he is um he's been in all kinds of stuff like he was in in a James Bond film he
[Music] oh a lot of Swedish and Scandinavian film I mean he he Stars he's half I
think he's half Danish or something oh okay so so he's in a lot of Danish films oh that's cool so maybe it wasn't just
his kind of face like a really like he's a very talented actor he's very well known in Sweden Denmark
Scandinavia um hugely talented very very nice uh lots of fun to work with so he he really
graced that video with this this uh this personality MH uh that I think was needed and which which sort of put me in
a a little bit of a uh you know being superflous um which is fine I don't I don't have to star or anything um but
someone need to be the priest and uh it's always interesting to be plain [ __ ] that's must be the most fun I
feel like absolutely the villain is always the most fun if I if I looked more like a like a stereotypical sort of
strong angry man like you know with all those features you know how some men just badass y I can't really play that
you know you know what what you're looking at right now is me sort of having spent uh some time being sick I'm
glad you're feeling better by the way so I'm I'm sort of in in home mode uh in the the sort of the
hobo look it's she um but you know when I'm clean shaving and all I can't really
scare people um and and sometimes as an act like as to to whatever extent I am an actor at some point I would say so um
you just have to live with the fact that you're you know what what your luck is is is sort of gotta work with it you can
play with that's what you can play with I had to to to screw him up with a with some sort of feature that gave him a
little bit more of a character I loved it I'm so glad you confirmed it for me because it was driving me insane I've
been saying it in here I'm like am I just like looking for things that aren't there or like am I going crazy now but
in the same in that same video uh cuz we've you know I had to analyze it a million times there Corinthians 6:19
flashes across the screen it's in the little notebook it's definitely like right there and in case anybody didn't
you know immediately look up that verse in the Bible I did not know what that verse was at first because I'm not super
up on my Biblical verses now before this interview I think I'm like an expert on
the Book of Revelations by the way I was telling everybody stories's held her own
Bible study now I have so I know all about it um but Corinthians is basically touching upon like sexual immorality
it's when Paul went to the Corinthians and told them you know stop being so loose with your business and the
Corinthians were like well why does it matter this body doesn't go with me when I leave so like it doesn't matter what I
do with it and he's like no it's a temple for God and you're sullying it with your Reckless you know sexy time
so that's the story there in a very loose form obviously not the word of God and this seems to be a theme obviously
of the satanized video for sure like we see the nun showing some clogged ankle for a minute loved her I thought she her
facial expressions are so good uh and it's even it's part of the video it's part of everything for this and there's
another song I Won't name it because it's obviously not out yet that I listen to on the album that definitely had some
like spiciness in it I would say so it had like a similar theme of this but I wanted to know if that kind of theme
plays like a bigger role at all in the Thematic arch of the album as a whole or if it's just kind of like just a part of
something bigger you mean Book of Revelations or the Corinthians Corinthians I would
say uh like that whole like sexual immorality thing this is I mean no this was specific to this song okay uh just
because it in in in that specific verse um I can't paraphrase it in English exactly what it says but but it's it's
somewhere along the lines of keep your body clean because at the end of the day you know it belongs to God yeah and um
in the context of the song and and the meaning of of the video I think it's fairly poignant and on on
point uh to this misconception that anybody who's L stricken is somehow opening themselves up to destroying
their bond and and their Covenant with God a higher being which is completely wild unfathomable truly and what is and
again you might not be able to answer this but in the notebook we were looking at what the things that were written in
there cuz they were funny in the uh the music video and there's something that's
crossed out can you tell tell us what that said cuz I think next to it it says like idiot
uh I think the first thing that was crossed out was masturbate question mark yeah that was definitely one and
obviously he didn't want to uh suggest that and then it's was it suicide oh that's what it was but he he didn't
wantan to like no that's not great he didn't want to suggest maybe he was stting going through the the Bible
verses there and and he landed on two Corinthians uh and anybody who knows current history knows that two
Corinthians does not exist it's second Corinthians but um when you pose with the Bible and try to trick your your
followers that you have any clue what you're talking about and you say that wrong it becomes kind of humoristic it
does um so um that was a little bit of a little nod an Easter egg there little wink I like that all right I'm glad we
know what that is now it was driving us nuts we're like what is that say it has an s in the beginning uh so quick little
like side question have you ever seen the Devils with Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave I I don't know off the top of
my head you should watch it I I believe that this is a quite old film right it and it was like banned but I think like
the W like Warner Brothers wouldn't release it again so it's one of those things you have to go looking for yeah
yeah yeah I um I don't remember I don't remember I I vaguely have it in the back
of my head I I think I know which film it is I sometimes I do have a problem uh remembering or um simply um detecting
which which film someone is referring to because uh even though in Sweden we don't dub films um we have other titles
for the films oh I didn't think of that which is uh to uh to to much ridicule and uh and the Laughing of of
my band members band that I'm traveling with because they have picked up on this
little anomaly and in Swedish uh Cinema I kind of love that so so sometimes I get the question like what's this call
in in Swedish so like simple simple old school things it's like Jaws is called hyen and that means the
shark love and uh you know Towering Inferno is and that means the skyscraper is on
fire I'm obsessed thatal that one awesome you know over the course of touring and and and you sit in the bus
and do exactly what we're talking about right now like we just like have you seen this film I'm like maybe no and I
see you know a picture of it oh yeah of course I've seen this but you know I remember this film and and then I have
to tell them the title and it's like it's such a simplified stupid I love it dumb dumb you know the old one
that that's fairly known is that all Mel Brooks films in in Swedish is called Springtime four huh spring producer
Springtime for Hitler wow uh and uh a lot of the um Goldie H films was The Girl Who Fell overboard
the girl who did military service The Girl Who Knew Too Much I love that words are added into the title too like
overboard it's not just overboard it's like we have to explain it first yeah all the all the uh um you know national
laoon uh National vacation or or um Christmas Vacation all that yeah all the all the ones that the Clark Clark
Griswald films they're called um a pair for a dad a pair for so that means like a pair as in in
the the fruit or oh like I thought you meant a pair a pair for for a dad huh uh celebrating Christmas a pair for a dad
uh on a European Vacation what you know why is there a pair so when I say if I if I ask anyone
in Sweden like have you seen National Lampoon's European Vacation they'd be like they will most likely not know what
I'm talking about like is that the one with the peir with the peir you talking about that's the one with the peir yeah
that's amazing I'm kind of obsessed with that you're going to have to let us know
if the devil has a different or the Devils has a different name it's the one um written produced and directed by Ken
Russell is Criterion are the people who made it I don't know why just popped in my head yeah it's from I'm going to
check it said grae yeah and Oliver Reed yeah yeah oh this rings a bell because as soon as I watch the satanized
video for some reason that movie just kind of like popped in my head and I was like huh uh I got ask oh
okay yeah uh so moving away from the Satan I video we have a couple of like kind of random questions for you but
last time you were on we had a lot of random questions for you and people really liked hearing what you had to say
about very random things uh so I'm sure you know this that you grew up in Sweden
uh is there any folklore or or tales that you heard growing up that you think maybe shaped how you approach music or
just creating cool [ __ ] yeah I mean obviously I I my music for for almost forever I mean as soon as I started
writing songs um especially for bands and stuff it it was always driven by a certain level of Supernatural
presence if you will because you know um I I started writing songs for for like especially metal and death metal and
stuff like that so of course there's this supernatural horror uh element and then that that just sort of continued
even through my sort of inter wall bands where it was still sort of darkish and now obviously it's influenced by that
too or at least wrapped in a in some sort of rapping that supposed to horrores so of course I I think that
Scandinavian folklore had I don't know how it is nowadays because I'm I'm obviously not a child now and I um I do
have children though so I'm not sure if they I'm not sure that they have sort of
dealt with with the same fairy tale you know murkiness that that even when I was a kid and and is Scandinavian
folklore is a lot about trolls and and uh various creatures that live in the forest yeah where I grew up in Lyn
shepping we had I mean anybody traveling to Linn shepping or anybody who's ever been there knows that that there's a um
there's a stream going through the the city and it's it's like a built stream and and it's it's in the form of sort of
a city park if you will it's not just sort of licking between the the houses it's it's like a it's like a long long
Park that goes through the town M because it's part of a um system called yata Canal a channel it's it's ad
jointed to to yata Canal it has these sloes and and stuff so you can actually take the boat oh okay on and and TR oh
that's cool and where I grew up and where my kindergarten was uh it's still there it's still a functioning
kindergarten like a a daycare place it was really nice because we had it it was sitting right right next to very near
the this stream oh that's cool so there was like a huge Park like a big Park right next to where we were and and we
had the slle you know where where old wooden oh that's cool boats would come and they would you know fill water up
and and but there was also like a waterfall there is this is is actually a pretty beautiful place if anybody travel
to lean shopping at some point go down to havayi it's called havayi because it's like a little um peninsula where
where me and my friends and and everybody we knew would go with six-packs and get [ __ ] up we all have
that one place not when you were in kindergarten it's later not not when when I was in kindergarten but but
anyway and there there is this character in Swedish folklore called neckan uh and he is like a naked man
sitting that's scary in in in by the water uh in a waterf or where the water streams down Downstream and he'd sit
there and play fiddle naked oh and if you ever hear him you will be enchanted by his pling and you
will and he will lure you and he will drown you oh that got dark so fast right at first I was like all right sounds
cool like this and I was like oh [ __ ] I like the fiddle music when I was little you know on and
we were down there playing you couldn't help but to sort of think that if there was such a thing as necken he would
probably sit right over there sounds like it that is a typical neckan place to sit yeah why not if we know anything
about nean yeah he's going to sit there he's going to sit in that waterfall that's great and a vast Congregation of
very devout fans we have Tobias Forge from Ghost welcome to morbid of course who who is it please
I'm very nearly here he's here welcome to the show Doug BR hi to hey man how are you I'm very
well how are you good good I'm doing fine doing just fine it's been a while covid kept getting in the way huh yeah
have we not seen each other since then I think at the Peterson they wouldn't let
us backstage and then I think I think the last one you needed to kind of voice preservation energy
preservation yeah I remember that now you you didn't didn't need annoying groupies exactly no I'm I'm I'm and
might I might have been also disturbed by do you still have that insect infestation in in Pittsburgh oh that was
crazy which one we had the we had the stink bugs G yeah these then that was followed by the the the spotted Lantern
flies that was what I was referring to but I just wanted conclusively I would just want to say we are coming to
Pittsburg you are yes yeah this summer so I'm looking forward to see both of you then yeah we we we already have our
tickets we we we will be there yay we'll all be there we'll we'll meet up some some bugless place congratulations on
the movie thank you thank you so much which was terrific and uh so the tour UPC coming you could lay claim to being
the hardest working man in Show Business I think I think so ah I I I try to put my miles but but it's I think it will be
10 years this year since we first saw you is it House of Dallas I think 2015 was it damn 14 I'm losing okay 11 years
look at that yeah I bet they suck I bet they're G to go [Laughter] you just happened to step in on the one
night when we didn't do that Elena congratulations on the novel which I read enjoyed hugely thank you with a
plot twist for the Ages which I did not see coming thank you so much I I mean that I was literally a kind of
what that was the plan so I'm glad it worked I I haven't cleared the decks for the sequel
the third one's coming so get ready is that do you stop at a Trilogy or do you just I'll keep going probably
you'll get some more I didn't gratulate you on anything Ash but uh that's okay I
just exist congratulations for being wonderful oh thank you back at you Doug look at the love here this was so
amazing and it was so amazing to have Doug come in as a surprise guest we wanted to give you that at the end we
thought it would be fun we love Doug so much thank you for coming Doug we love Tobias we love Doug it's just all love
here uh and just to wrap it up the album comes out on April 25th it's incredible
everybody go get it because you won't be disappointed uh the single for satanized
and the sister imperator comic are available now when this episode comes out you can access all the above plus
some really sick merch on ghost-official tocom and I encourage you to do it Tobias you're amazing we're huge fans
we'll stick with you can't wait to see you on tour we'll be at a couple of the dates looking forward to that and thank
you so much thank you so much for coming on we really really appreciate it thank
you and we hope you guys keep listening and we hope you keep it we bye [Music] [Music]
[Music] [Music] can't find my go away button

Join us for a special bonus episode with Tobias Forge, the man behind the mythos that is The Band Ghost. Hear exclusive news about their latest album, the process behind the music and some you heard it here first moments. If you haven’t already, make sure to check out the new music video for Satanized!

Want more? Preorder the album 'Skeleta' which drops on 4/25/25! See Ghost LIVE in the upcoming SkeleTour World Tour! Grab the 4 issue 'Sister Imperator Comic'! You can find all things Ghost on https://ghost-official.com/

Connect with Wondery http://wondery.com/shows http://facebook.com/WonderyMedia http://twitter.com/WonderyMedia http://instagram.com/WonderyMedia

Brief Summary

Tobias Forge discusses his tour, new album, and skepticism about Jack the Ripper's identity.

Key points

Tobias Forge Joins Morbid. Prolific songwriter and storyteller Tobias Forge discusses his career and new projects.
The Highest Grossing Hard Rock Cinema Event. Tobias Forge reveals his film is the highest grossing Hard Rock Cinema event in North America.
Jack the Ripper Controversy. Discussion on the recent claims about Jack the Ripper's identity and the skepticism surrounding it.
The Cliffhanger of All Cliffhangers. Tobias Forge's film ends on a shocking cliffhanger, leaving audiences wanting more.
Exploring the Concept of Twins. Tobias Forge shares his fascination with twins and family ties.
New Album Masterpiece. The artist describes their new album as a masterpiece and their favorite so far.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I don't think they have found Jack the Ripper.

Strong opinion on the identity of Jack the Ripper.

6:43WatchMar 7, 2025

Tension

40/ 100Low tension

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