Tobias Forge says Cardinal Copia to stick around for new Ghost album

After a wildly successful North America and European tour, Tobias Forge discusses Cardinal Copia’s future in an Australian interview.

Things have been pretty quiet on the Ghost front since Tobias Forge appeared fully unmasked on French television some weeks ago. Since then, the European and Australian legs of A Pale Tour Named Death have continued with some new pyrotechnics and lighting in the show making the production look stunning. Forge continues to do interviews and make appearances on podcasts, radio shows and magazine interviews but it was a recent interview with the Australian podcast called “The Music” that has everyone’s attention since he talks about the future of Cardinal Copia.

The episode, which is down below, was a 16 minute long interview with the soft spoken leader of Ghost. Cardinal Copia is the current “leader” as the fourth incarnation however, if you aren’t familiar with the band’s past, each leader before him have all been Papa’s. All three were the son’s of the first Papa Nihil (who’s beginnings we saw in the “Dance Macabre” music video).

Since each Papa only got one album cycle, they were replaced with the younger brother of the Papa before him, hence Papa Emeritus I, II, and III. Everyone has a favorite Papa Emeritus, my personal favorite being Papa Emeritus III with Papa II a very close second.

Once Papa Nihil ran out of sons, they had to find a new leader but the best choice was a young Cardinal named Copia. Cardinal Copia is a hell of a goof ball and sassy AF but he’s not a Papa and it would seem that for the first time, we get to see the evolution of how one becomes a Papa. There is no going back, after all, since Papa Nihil had all three of his sons killed by the Nameless Ghouls and their decorated bodies are on display during the tour for VIP tickets.

According to “The Music” and Loudwire, Forge wasn’t a huge fan of Cardinal Copia in the beginning:

"“Not even I liked him to begin with. But now I can’t wait to see him hopefully accomplish these things and I really look forward to possibly seeing him in the skull paint and real papal attire.” Listen to the interview below.”"

He started that quote by discussing how the Papas had no story attached to them, they had already achieved the status, but we get to watch Cardinal Copia work his way to being Papa Emeritus IV. That means that Copia will be around for the next album, which is set to begin recording in early 2020 and release later that year.

"“Right now, if everything goes according to plan, we’re hoping for Cardi to be strong enough and cool enough to possibly do something that none of the previous ones have done, and that’s basically to do two cycles.”"

For fans of Cardinal Copia, that is wonderful news. While he isn’t my favorite incarnation of the band’s leader, he is most definitely one to love and very entertaining.

He brings a level of humor that not even Papa III achieved. Keep an eye on 1428 Elm for more Ghost news and if you are new to the band, check out our list for noobs that has the top 25 songs in their repertoire.

Are you a fan of Cardinal Copia? Or how about Count Copia? Let is know in the comments!