Ghost return with new single, Hunter's Moon

Swedish rock giants Ghost have unleashed their first new single in two years, Hunter's Moon.

Blending the characteristic pop-style vocals of frontman Tobias Forge – aka Papa Emeritus – with the haunting electric guitar cleans and pummeling riffs from his band of Nameless Ghouls – the track is a quintessential Ghost number, and set to feature on the soundtrack of the forthcoming slasher movie, Halloween Kills.

According to a press release, Ghost's sold-out show at the LA Forum on November 16, 2018 was attended by Ryan Turek, Vice President of Feature Film Development at Blumhouse Productions, one of the companies producing Halloween Kills.

After meeting and quickly developing a rapport with Forge, Turek introduced him to the movie's co-writer and director David Gordon Green, who subsequently arranged to have a Ghost song on its soundtrack.

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While nothing's been formally announced as of yet, it would appear that we're imminently in for another Ghost full-length, and followup to 2018's Prequelle.

In a conversation with Sweden Rock Magazine in October last year, Forge said that the album would be “recorded in January”.

“It takes about six weeks to record and then two to three weeks for mixing and mastering,” he explained. “So sometime in March the record should be finished, but it won’t be released until after the summer...

He continued: “We will not release an album until we know we are going on tour. It will coincide with a tour start.”

And on that note, Ghost have just announced a massive co-headline US tour with Danish juggernaut Volbeat, with support from Twin Temple. The 26-date trek will commence January 25 in Reno, Nevada, making stops in Denver, Chicago, Dallas and more, before wrapping up in Anaheim, California on March 3. 

So will the album drop in the new year? Only time will tell, but based on Forge's comments, we'd say its pretty likely.

While it's their first original single in two years, Hunter's Moon isn't the group's only recording released of late. Earlier this month, the band unleashed their reimagining of Enter Sandman for The Metallica Blacklist, a gargantuan compilation album in which 53 different artists pay tribute to Metallica's seminal 1991 effort, The Black Album.

In the November 2021 issue of Guitar World, Forge reflects on covering the thrash titans biggest track.

“It felt like something we knew how to do,” he says. “But when it comes to covering other band's songs I try to find something that isn't in the track in its original state. And honestly, I find that difficult in a lot of Metallica songs because I feel they are pretty fully fleshed out.”

Ghost's new track Hunter's Moon is out now on digital streaming platforms, and will arrive in a collectible 7-inch vinyl format on January 21, 2022.