If you look at the writing credits of Ghost's songs over the years, Tobias Forge is always at the helm. Especially after the split with his bandmates around 2017 that resulted in a lawsuit over royalties (and was dismissed in 2018). Even on the upcoming Ghost record Impera, all songs were written by Forge and co-written by outside writers like Salem Al Fakir and Vincent Pontare.
Forge admits in an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he's a bit of a "dictator" when it comes to the band, but it doesn't mean he can't work with people.
"In every band I've ever had, every song I've ever written, I was always called a dictator, a control freak who couldn't work with anyone else. And I am a dictator and control freak. But I can work with people," he said. Forge later added that "I found that I can work really well with someone I respect, who is always pushing for the best. They make me want to write better, to get my game up a little."
Impera also features Opeth guitarist Fredrik Åkesson, who was hired by Forge because he didn't really have the time to practice and stay up to speed with guitar.
"…I'm a little bit of a jack of all trades when it comes to actual playing," said Forge in a recent interview. "I'm an able drummer, a bass player, an able guitar player, but I'm not a virtuoso.
"This time around, I actually had another guitar player coming in, mounting the massive work of actually redoing everything. I've played guitar all my life, but, unlike most guitar players who are in successful bands, they play as they tour. I am doing a whole slew of other things, so, it almost feels like every time I saw start writing again, and demoing and doing pre-production, I quickly have to go up to par again.
"On, tour for example, I mostly play drums, actually, in a rehearsal room in the back that we usually do as a warm up. Part of my daily exercises, I play drums for an hour, but I tend to forget to play guitar. When making this record, the demos dictates what to play — you can always figure that out and there's always ways to redo, undo and piece things together.
"But when it came to actually performing, I had a friend of mine, Fredrik Åkesson, the guitar player from Opeth. He's the sort of person who plays five hours every day. He's so amazingly talented. He can play circles around anything that I put on tape and he can do it with flair."
