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Swedish Satanic-rock troupe Ghost have come a long, long way since their cult 2010 debut, Opus Eponymous, to their latest LP, Impera, Revolver's top album of 2022.
One of the many things that have helped buoyed mastermind Tobias Forge and Co. to their current chart-topping, arena-headlining, award-winning success is a host of famous fans, including Dave Grohl, James Hetfield and Duff McKagan. Count among this murderers' row Charlie Benante.
We asked the Anthrax and Pantera drummer to pick his favorite Ghost song — see his selection below.
"Ritual"
We're gonna go way back with this one. Before the first Ghost album came out, I believe it was [Metal Blade Records founder] Brian Slagel that sent me some songs to check out. The first song that I heard was "Ritual"… The opening riff and then when it kicks in, it reminded me of Seventies rock, and it immediately hooked me.
I didn't know what the band looked like, or anything, so I had to find out. So I started to see some images coming through and then I loved it even more! Then I saw the album cover that was coming out and it was like Salem's Lot — that's what it reminded me of. ... And I loved it even more! When I got to finally see them, probably a year after that, they were on a festival with us. And I talked to Tobias, it was great ... I loved the whole concept of what he came up with.
But again, my first song that I loved from that band was "Ritual." It had such a vibe to it. Love that first album and loved that song "Ritual."
