Metal fans grab your grease paint and your lamb’s blood, Ghost B.C. is coming to Colorado! The band, known just as “Ghost” in the rest of the world due to legal reasons, have fascinated and confounded music fans across the globe since they broke onto the scene in 2010. Known mostly for their strange, highly theatrical stage presence the band has a surprisingly classic metal sound.
Formed in 2008 in Linköping, Sweden Ghost B.C. found tremendous underground success with their debut album Opus Eponymous, which was nominated for a Grammis Award (the Swedish equivalent to the Grammy). The band was picked up by a major label and in 2013 released their follow-up album Infestissumam. That album scored the Ghost B.C. greater notoriety and a Grammis Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Album.
Just who are Ghost B.C.? That’s one of metal’s biggest mysteries. The lead singer calls himself “Papa Emeritus” while the other members are simply referred to as “Nameless Ghouls” and appear on stage with hooded black robes. All of the band’s songs are credited to “A Ghoul Writer” further adding to the mystery. Interestingly, the band has stated in interviews that Dave Grohl has dressed up as a Nameless Ghoul and performed secretly with the band. Grohl is a big fan and has produced some of the band’s songs.
Ghost B.C. is a throwback to a simpler time in rock music and have more in common with Black Sabbath and Alice Cooper than modern metal. Besides their penchant for heavy make-up and mysterious black robes, Ghost B.C.’s big draw is their sound. Crystal clear vocals, soaring harmonies, and big guitar riffs are the band’s bread and butter. Ghost B.C. is most often compared, favorably and unfavorably, to Blue Öyster Cult both in regards to vocal style and dark lyrical content.
In a world of Internet spoilers and mindless attention seekers there’s something refreshing about an anonymous metal band. The theatrics and mystery surrounding Ghost B.C. is gimmicky but it’s backed by up by the band’s musical chops and reverence to classic British Metal. So don’t fear the reaper, and be sure to check out Ghost B.C. when they play the Boulder Theater on April 23.
Check out the (freaky) video for the band’s song “Secular Haze” below.
Also worth checking out is a cover the band recently did of singer-songwriter Roky Erickson’s classic “If You Have Ghosts”: