Every stripe of metal fan finds their way to Slayer.
Although Ghost borrows a lot from the stone age of metal, Tobias Forge still has love for the pioneers of thrash.
In a recent interview with Metal Hammer, Forge singled out the title track of their EP Haunting the Chapel as his favorite song, thinking they were a breath of fresh air from Metallica saying
“They were so gnarly back then. I’ve always been a huge Metallica fan, and Slayer in a way were all the things that Metallica weren’t and vice versa.”
Outside of the intensity, Forge also commented on the musicality behind the song, noting that it sounded much more evil than any other metal at the time,
“Slayer back then did the most evil riffs ever, and there was just something genuinely hostile about them. There’s not one happy note in there. And their lyrics were really cool, and their imagery was really cool, and they sounded great and played great.”
When you listen to this song, you can hear the beginnings of what Ghost was going to be.
While Slayer was never an atmospheric band, the different time changes and the dark atmosphere carried over into what Papa Emeritus gets into onstage.
However, Kerry King is not the biggest fan of what Forge brings to metal, commenting that he never really clicked with Ghost’s music saying
“I love the imagery. I just hate the fucking music. They’re the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. It’s just not my music. And I’ve tried so hard.”
King’s disinterest in Ghost isn’t personal, with Ghost going out on tour with Slayer during their final run of dates.
Even if King doesn’t see the appeal of them, Ghost were not trying to be Slayer ripoffs.
This is further proof of how influential the thrash legends were in their prime.
Kerry King's First Reaction to Ghost: 'love the imagery, hate the f***in' music'
'There Are a Lot of Things Brewing' for Ghost, According to Tobias Forge
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