"GHOST" Announces North American Headlining Tour

Occult Rock Bands BLOOD CEREMONY and ANCIENT VVISDOM to Support On Highly Anticipated Winter Tour

Mysterious Swedish buzz band GHOST has announced that it will embark on its first ever North American headlining tour in January, 2012.  GHOST cult leader “Papa Emeritus” (who takes the stage in the form of “a satanic pope”) and his anonymous ghouls will team up with doom rockers BLOOD CEREMONY and ANCIENT VVISDOM for a two week trek dubbed the “13 Dates of Doom” tour that will launch on January 18 in New York City.  GHOST continues to tour in support of its debut album Opus Eponymous, which has been called “amazing” by Stereogum and “a primer on the creation of melodic hard rock” by The Big Takeover.

GHOST floored music fans with its first U.S. shows earlier this year and served notice that it is not only a “band to watch” but a force to be reckoned with for years to come.  In its live review of GHOST‘s NYC show, the Village Voice called the group’s performance “lurching and menacing”, saying “Ghost’s sound is like heavy metal trapped in a state of suspended animation since 1973″.  Check out the band performing the song “Satan Prayer” as part of its headlining set at the 2011 Maryland Deathfest at this location.

     “It is with an evil haunting chuckle that we are announcing that we are finally coming to North America,” states GHOST‘s Papa Emeritus.  ”In the name of Satan, we will conduct thirteen rituals in thirteen different cities throughout the United States and Canada and now we are summoning all of our devotees to partake in these blasphemous eves of black magic.”

GHOST‘s Opus Eponymous is a daringly fascinating combination of satanic rock music merged with an almost unthinkable pop sensibility.  Enveloped in a shroud of mystery and standing anonymous beneath the painted faces, hoods and robes which their sect demand, the GHOST deliver litanies of pulsating heavy rock and stimulating lyrics which “glorify and glamorize the disgusting and sacrilegious”.  The music and philosophies of GHOST specifically target “individuals who have a void in their life perhaps caused by some form of emotional trauma or upset” (research suggests these are most likely adolescents); this dearth can then be alluringly filled by GHOST’s music and philosophies.  LA WEEKLY recently tagged the band as part of a hot list of “Bands Bringing Rock Back To Metal” calling GHOST “incredibly catchy dark-rock” with “Hooks and melodies that stay with you for days”.

The itinerary for the GHOST / BLOOD CEREMONY / ANCIENT VVISDOM winter North American tour is as follows:

January 18       New York, NY              Bowery Ballroom
January 19       Washington, DC          Rock N Roll Hotel
January 20       Boston, MA                 Middle East (downstairs)
January 21       Montreal, QC              Corona Theatre
January 22       Toronto, ON                The Mod Club
January 24       Chicago, IL                 Bottom Lounge
January 25       Saint Paul, MN            Station 4
January 27       Denver, CO                 Marquis Theatre
January 28       Salt Lake City, UT       The Vertigo (The Complex)
January 30       Seattle, WA                 El Corazon
January 31       Portland, OR                Hawthorne Theater
February 1       San Francisco, CA        Bottom of the Hill
February 2       Los Angeles, CA           The Roxy

BLOOD CEREMONY‘s distinct style of flute-tinged “witch rock” evolves from an infernal marriage of occult-inspired acid folk and vintage hard rock riffing.  Invoking the mischievous “Pipes of Pan”, BLOOD CEREMONY’s songs are distinguished by singer Alia O’Brien’s invoking flute solos, accenting an instrument long-associated with a list of devilish figures. BLOOD CEREMONY keeps it simple and heavy; their songs are tempered with strong, brooding melodies that could readily appeal to fans of Black Sabbath and Black Mountain alike.  SPIN described the quartet as “what early Jethro Tull would sound like if fronted by a sexy witch”, calling the band’s sound “skull-crushing blooze riffs and flute freak-outs will jurgle your nurgles.”Check out BLOOD CEREMONY performing live at the 2011 Roadburn Festival at this location.

   

Austin, TX’s ANCIENT VVISDOM (pronounced: Ancient Wisdom) released its debut album A Godlike Inferno this summer via Shinebox Recordings.   The blackened neo-folk / demonic rock squad who recently issued a one sided split 12″ LP with Charles Manson (Yep! See here) play darkened, catchy “death rock” using acoustic guitars to create music with an organic connection to the nefarious rites they begat while incorporating electric guitar effects, synth sounds, vocal harmonies and abstract percussion to give a deeper, ethereal quality to their hook-filled arrangements. Front man Nathan Opposition’s powerfully honest voice casts lyrics that conjure “mysteries of the occult, paganism, satanic philosophies and forbidden knowledge” and “a dark, enlightening foresight into the future of humankind.”  Check out the AOL premiere of premiere of ANCIENT VVISDOM’s music video “VVorld of Flesh” at this location.

What the media is saying about GHOST:

“Sweden’s GHOST have built up an impressive underground buzz during the last six months…an arcane occult feast” – DECIBEL

“‘Opus Eponymous’ is an extraordinary debut…Some bands might like to act “scary” by wearing filthy outfits, sporting corpsepaint, performing alongside impaled sheep’s’ heads, and splashing buckets of real blood on their fans, but just like how ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ is so much more frightening than ‘Saw’, GHOST’s comparatively understated method proves to be far more effective, not to mention creepy as hell.” - POPMATTERS

  “On its 2010 full-length, ‘Opus Eponymous’ (newly reissued by Metal Blade), Ghost threw the metal community a righteous curveball, combining the creepy theatricality of black metal-evil-clergy outfits, band members known collectively as a Group of Nameless Ghouls-with crisp, hook-crammed rock & roll. The Swedish band’s output serves as a timely reminder that metal needn’t be raw and chaotic in order to evoke a dark mood.” – TIME OUT NEW YORK

“All fans of true cult heavy metal should go apeshit over this. Sometimes you just have to admit that the devil has the best tunes.” – VERBICIDE

 What the media is saying about BLOOD CEREMONY:

 ”BLOOD CEREMONY hail from Toronto and they are equal parts Black Sabbath and Jethro Tull. Imagine a small, ruddy Canadian girl belting over pre-Metal riffs, sporadically piping notes through a flute like Ian Anderson.tremendously promising” – LAist

“the melodic flute focus is what separates (BLOOD) CEREMONY from a zillion weed-hazed dudes blasting Iommi riffs. It gives their otherwise gloom-drone occult rock a heightened sense of drama, imagery and femininity, something sorely lacking in most metal.” – NOW TORONTO

What the media is saying about ANCIENT VVISDOM:

     ”(ANCIENT VVISDOM’s) ”A Godlike Inferno” is not intended to rock your world; only to blacken it. An album for a particular mood perhaps, but nonetheless one filled with songs of dark folk and bleak rock that hooks and a vibe that is, for lack of a better word, cool.” – BLABBERMOUTH

“harvesters of sorrow, casting pagan-folk and cemetery eulogies with restrained, ominous arrangements.” – AUSTIN CHRONICLE