Last week, Swedish occult rockers Ghost announced their upcoming new album, Impera. Now, frontman Tobias Forge has revealed that the record contains work by a very special alumnus of Sweden’s death metal scene: guitarist Fredrik Åkesson of progressive death metal legends Opeth.
“This time around, I actually had another guitar player coming in, mounting the massive work of actually redoing everything,” Forge told Full Metal Jackie in an interview at Noisecreep. “I’ve played guitar all my life, but, unlike most guitar players who are in successful bands, they play as they tour. I am doing a whole slew of other things, so, it almost feels like every time I saw start writing again, and demoing and doing pre-production, I quickly have to go up to par again.
“On, tour for example, I mostly play drums, actually, in a rehearsal room in the back that we usually do as a warm up. Part of my daily exercises, I play drums for an hour, but I tend to forget to play guitar. When making this record, the demos dictates what to play — you can always figure that out and there’s always ways to redo, undo and piece things together.”
“But when it came to actually performing, I had a friend of mine, Fredrik Åkesson, the guitar player from Opeth. He’s the sort of person who plays five hours every day. He’s so amazingly talented. He can play circles around anything that I put on tape and he can do it with flair.”
Ghost’s Impera is already available for preorder. Check out the full tracklisting and cover art for Impera below:
- Imperium
- Kaisarion
- Spillways
- Call Me Little Sunshine
- Hunter’s Moon
- Watcher In The Sky
- Dominion
- Twenties
- Darkness At The Heart Of My Love
- Griftwood
- Bite Of Passage
- Respite On The Spital Fields
Make sure to catch Ghost on one of their countless upcoming live dates below. And to read more about Ghost and other spooky metal mayhem, make sure to subscribe to our daily newsletter.
North American Tour w/ Volbeat
1/25 – Reno, NV – Reno Events Center
1/27 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
1/28 – Nampa, ID – Ford Idaho Center Arena
1/29 – Portland, OR – Veterans Memorial Coliseum
1/31 – West Valley City, UT – Maverik Center
2/2 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena
2/4 – Lincoln, NE – Pinnacle Bank Arena
2/5 – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center
2/7 – Columbus, OH – Nationwide Arena
2/8 – Hershey, PA – GIANT Center
2/10 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center
2/11 – Worcester, MA – DCU Center
2/12 – Camden, NJ – BB&T Pavilion
2/14 – Pittsburgh, PA – Petersen Events Center
2/15 – Toledo, OH – Huntington Center
2/16 – Grand Rapids, MI – Van Andel Arena
2/18 – Chicago, IL – Allstate Arena
2/19 – Cincinnati, OH – Heritage Bank Center
2/20 – Milwaukee, WI – Fiserv Forum
2/21 – St. Louis, MO – Chaifetz Arena
2/23 – Independence, MO – Cable Dahmer Arena
2/25 – Houston, TX – Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land
2/26 – Dallas, TX – Fair Park Coliseum
2/28 – El Paso, TX – Don Haskins Center
3/1 – Phoenix, AZ – Footprint Center
3/3 – Anaheim, CA – Honda Center
European Dates w/ Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats, Twin Temple
4/9 – Manchester, Arena, UK
4/11 – London, O2 Arena, UK
4/13 – Glasgow, Hydro, UK
4/15 – Birmingham, RWA Arena, UK
4/17 – Rotterdam, RTM Stage Ahoy, Netherlands
4/18 – Paris, Accor Arena, France
4/19 – Cologne, Lanxess Arena, Germany
4/21 – Leipzig Quarterback Immobillen Arena, Germany
4/22 – Frankfurt, Festhalle, Germany
4/24 – Prague, Arena, Czech Republic
4/27 – Tampere, Nokia Arena, Finland
4/29 – Stockhom, Avicii Arena, Sweden
4/30 – Oslo, Spektrum, Norway
5/1 – Malmo, Malmo Arena, Sweden
5/3 – Brussels, Forest, Belgium
5/5 – Milan, Mediolanum Forum, Italy
5/7 – Barcelona, Olympic Arena Badalona, Spain
5/8 – Madrid, Vistalegre Arena, Spain
5/11 – Vienna, Stadthalle, Austria
4/13 – Zurich, Hallenstadion, Switzerland
5/15 – Hannover ZAG Arena, Germany
5/16 – Munich, Olympiahalle, Germany
5/18 – Budapest, Arena, Hungary
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Words by Chris Krovatin
