Tobias Forge has opened up about Ghost’s hiatus in a new interview.
Speaking to Kerrang!, Forge spoke about his decision to take a break from the road after the completion of ‘Skeletour’, which supported the release of the band’s 2025 album, ‘Skeletá’.
He told the publication: “There’s a lot of people depending on you, let alone all these people buying tickets. For most of my career, I’ve been very triggered by that, in a positive way. But now, with a lack of a clear direction of where to go, I don’t want to have that responsibility on my shoulder. I can carry that when I’m there, but when I’m not there, it’s too tiresome.”
He also went on to say he was “exhausted” after completing the 70-date tour earlier this year, back in February,
Reflecting on it now, he explained: “When you’re done with the big wedding, you’re not gonna get married again immediately after. I don’t want to call it a bookend, but it serves as a great finale. I feel like, ‘If this is it, I’m pretty pleased. This is a fucking great repertoire, great band, they sound phenomenal.’ We managed to do this awesome show most of the nights, and I couldn’t be happier.”
He continued: “Everything was great up until the moment when I was sort of eyeing the end of a tour and not knowing for the first time in our career what to do next…And that was kind of the get-the-fuck-out-of-Dodge card, which is: I’m not gonna just go back to make an album or force myself to make an album for no reason. I need to want to make a record. I need to have something to say.
“Every other record has been very inspired and there’s been a clear thought, there’s been a purpose. And that was completely generated by my passion to do so — it was never contractual fulfilment or whatever. It was nothing like that. And this time around it was just like, ‘I don’t have an idea.’ I just want to do other things and it doesn’t really mean anything other than that, but it also means that, no, we don’t have anything in the books, and yeah, it’s just a normal hiatus.”
Back in February, Forge explained how he was planning a hiatus after the last tour, saying that he “needs to be home” for a while.
In an appearance on Full Metal Jackie, Forge was asked about his life outside of the band, and revealed that he was planning on taking some time away to focus on his family.
“I’ve had two kids waiting at home with my wife for 15 years, and maybe that says something about me that it wasn’t a pushing enough factor during those years,” he explained. “Believe me, I felt bad, but I’ve definitely come to a point where I feel, physically and mentally. I need to be home. [My kids are] 17; they’re not gonna be around for an eon.”
Forge also said that he has other creative projects lined-up outside of Ghost too, and wants to take some downtime if he is going to find more inspiration.
“The only way for me to come up with a new idea and get some new inspiration is to just step away. It is as simple as that. But it doesn’t mean that I’m not doing anything. I have two film projects that I’m working on,” he said.
“Just before I left for the tour, I was recording another album with another thing. So I have tons of stuff lined up [for] the coming years. And also hobbies that I have put aside because for the last 15 years Ghost has been force majeure.”
Discussing the future of the masked metal band, he added: “I’ve come to a point where I still have ideas, I still have dreams, I still have things that I think we have not achieved — definitely the wish list is still there — but that’s gonna be at some other point.”
Last year, NME spoke to Forge about the future of Ghost, and the singer opened up about wanting to bring the “lore” of the band to an end.
“I think that there might be an end to the storytelling because it’s not productive to have this endless soap opera,” he said. “If fans need the lore in order to like the band, then that element will probably be over quite soon.”
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