THIS EXISTS: Ghost B.C. thinks you're a puritan for calling their dildo 'gay'

by Tyler Munro

May 17, 2013

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Ghost B.C. will be the first to tell you that they employ an obvious gimmick, but speaking in full garb at the back of the band’s tour bus, the incredibly eloquent and surprisingly candid Nameless Ghoul—one of the Swedish band’s many anonymous members—explained their spiritual and political aspirations and, more impressively, how they factor into a sex toy shaped like their lead singer’s face.

via Riley Taylor

Ghost B.C. will be the first to tell you that they employ an obvious gimmick, but speaking in full garb at the back of the band’s tour bus, the incredibly eloquent and surprisingly candid Nameless Ghoul—one of the Swedish band’s many anonymous members—explained their spiritual and political aspirations and, more impressively, how they factor into a sex toy shaped like their lead singer’s face.

He says that the Phallus Mortuus Ritual set was meant to be a Universal-endorsed pre-order incentive that would help formally announce their transition to a new, North America-only band name.

“[As with] any other sort of errand within a big [company] like Universal, you have the people that you work with that might be very artistic and very aesthetic, but then you have the legal department, the owners, and the shareholders,” says the band’s lead-guitarist. “Whilst processing that product, that backlash of ‘they can’t release a dildo!’ happened, so it got released on the side.”

When the set, pictured below with a butt plug, t-shirt, and more, was released late in April, the Nameless Ghoul says it came with some unexpected opinions.

via Blackplanet.org

“What’s laughable is the amount of dudes into metal that all of a sudden got all 100% puritan and called the product ‘gay’,” he says. “It’s not intended to be anything but a product. How you want to stick it, and who you want to stick it into, that’s completely your choice. But if ‘gay’ is the first thing that you think of, that probably says more about [you] more than anything.”

They hit a similar snafu when Infestissumam went to print as manufacturers and label execs across the continent were put off by what they considered to be an offensive image set to be printed on the disc itself.

“The record is about the biggest threat [to Christianity] and the underlying [theme] is basically the sexual liberation of women, which has always been referred to as diabolical and dangerous,” he explains. “When a printing factory, and then three more, refuse to print it not because of the inverted crosses, but because of the vaginas… we’ve gone nowhere.”

Empowerment isn’t a new theme for the band, who, beneath layers of robes and make-up seem fully committed to their satanic beliefs, at least in terms of what they stand for.

His robe distinguished by a stitched representation of the fire element, the Nameless Ghoul we talked to quietly and calmly spoke about the satisfaction, if not frustration, that comes with puritanical higher-ups completely—if accidentally—proving their point.

“[Infestissumam] is obviously about the presence of Satan and the mythological quirks that go with that, but the underlying theme is partially about female sexuality,” he explains.  “We sang about that on the first record as well, ‘Stand By Him’ is about that. Literally it’s about witches, but the underlying meaning is the stupidity and superstition of man.”

It’s that attitude that draws the line between the band’s spectacle filled aesthetic and the tongue-in-cheek smirk that shines through even the most serious of subject matter.

“What we are doing is escapism,” says the Ghoul, who explains that Ghost B.C. is a calculated combination of their collective love of horror, musicals and metal. “[Ghost B.C.] is a chance to merge all of those things into one thing, which was a theatrical experience of rock music. That was Ghost.”

Candle-lit stage sets and St. Peter’s Crosses make the obvious theatrical statement at their shows, but it’s clear after our short talk that Ghost uses their Satanic slant as as a delivery method for empowerment.

“As much as we’re releasing dildos to get a reaction, a lot of the things we had on our record and sleeve were not to get a reaction,” he reiterates. “It was for art, for artwork.”

And if a statement gets made in the process, maybe that’s because it had to be.

Tags: Music, Featured, Interviews, News, Ghost B.C., satan, this exists

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