Year Zero
Infestissumam (Papa Emeritus II)
2013
Recorded 11-16-24 between 1:13 and 1:17 PM EST
Song Meaning: This song is about the coming of the Antichrist. The mentions of "year zero" refer to the belief that, when he comes, a new calendar will start, thus bringing about year zero.
Comments: Why did I love holding the note on the words "Archangelo" and "zero?"

Mummy Dust
Meliora (Papa Emeritus III)
2015
Recorded 11-17-24 between 4:57 and 4:59 PM EST
Song Meaning: The "mummy dust" that the song is about is money, and the song was written as a commentary on the fact that all humans basically worship it as their one true god.
Comments: I really should've had my water bottle on hand for this one...

He Is
Meliora (Papa Emeritus III)
2015
Recorded 11-17-24 between 9:20 and 9:23 AM EST
Song Meaning: This track's lyrics are about Lucifer, and tell the story of a couple embracing him and following him into sin.
Comments: This song is so soothing, yet so dark…

Ritual
Opus Eponymous (Papa Emeritus I)
2010
Recorded 11-17-24 between 4:46 and 4:48 PM EST
Song Meaning: The name and lyrics make the meaning pretty clear, but this song is about an unholy Satanic ritual being conducted in a chapel (most likely the one depicted on the album cover, if you wanna visualize things).
Comments: Every time I start singing this song, I always hear Tobias Forge (the band's lead singer) in my head grumbling about Sodo (one of the Ghouls, an anonymous band member) playing the intro to it and "stealing his thunder."

Respite on the Spitalfields
Impera (Papa Emeritus IV)
2022
Recorded 11-17-24 between 5:07 and 5:09 PM EST
Song Meaning: This song is based on Jack the Ripper, with it being about a serial killer (presumably in Spitalfields, London) who's scared the town. I'd like to note that the part about the Wizard of Oz is meant to tie in to Impera's theme about the rise and fall of empires. The Wizard was thought by the people of Oz to be this almighty being, but in actuality, he was just a normal person. In the same vein, Jack the Ripper was terrifying and monstrous, but in actuality, he was just a disturbed man, and also in the same vein, many politicians are thought to be these "holy" rulers who say they'll do good and then turn out to be absolute dirtbags.
Comments: I evidently didn't learn my lesson from "Mummy Dust" to have my water bottle nearby for the growly parts.

Spillways
Impera (Papa Emeritus IV)
2022
Recorded 11-18-24 between 12:32 and 12:34 PM EST
Song Meaning: According to Tobias, this song is about the darkness inside us and how it needs to be let out sometimes so it doesn't build up, likening it to the spillways of a dam.
Comments: And it's such a riiiiiiiiide!

Twenties
Impera (Papa Emeritus IV)
2022
Recorded 11-18-24 between 12:36 and 12:38 PM EST
Song Meaning: This track is about the rise of fascism in both the 1920s and the 2020s, with specific references to Donald Trump (no political arguments, please) in both the song's artwork and the chorus (and obviously, there's a Third Reich reference earlier in the song too).
Comments: This song sits somewhere between "I like singing it" and "I don't like singing it," mainly because of the chorus.

Darkness at the Heart of My Love
Impera (Papa Emeritus IV)
2022
Recorded 11-18-24 between 12:50 and 12:53 PM EST
Song Meaning: On the surface, this sounds your run-of-the-mill love ballad, but after a few listens, the meaning becomes more apparent. It's about trusting people who don't actually hold the values they say they do, like a priest who's actually just trying to make money and doesn't really care about the religion or the church.
Comments: I think this is the song that made me fall in love with Cardinal Copia... So glad they didn't kill him off in Rite Here Rite Now and just gave him a promotion.

Griftwood
Impera (Papa Emeritus IV)
2022
Recorded 11-18-24 between 1:07 and 1:10 PM EST
Song Meaning: Similar to "Darkness," this one is about people who will do anything to advance their position and become more popular, even if they don't actually believe or practice what they're saying.
Comments: This chorus is so catchy!

Dance Macabre
Prequella (Cardinal Copia)
2018
Recorded 11-18-24 between 1:12 and 1:14 PM EST
Song Meaning: Prequelle's whole theme is the Black Death, and this song is an example of that. However, it also appears to be about the end of a relationship, or a relationship that's about to end.
Comments: Another catchy chorus, with some very clever wordplay to boot!

Mary on a Cross
Seven Inches of Satanic Panic (Papa Nihil)
2019
Recorded 11-19-24 between 10:34 and 10:36 AM EST
Song Meaning: In the lore of Ghost, the band has been around for a long time, being fronted by Papa Emeritus Nihil in the 1960s. During the "'69 sessions," as they were retroactively called, he wrote and recorded at least three songs, this being one of them. The song is about his relationship with Sister Imperator (part of the Clergy; Ghost is a Satanic organization akin to a church in their lore), as well as experimenting with drugs.
Comments: Every time I sing this, I can't help but picture the music video in my head... It's hilarious.

The Future is a Foreign Land
Rite Here Rite Now (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (originally written and recorded by Papa Nihil, but performed by Emeritus IV)
2024
Recorded 11-19-24 between 12:42 and 12:45 AM EST
Song Meaning: This is another song from the '69 sessions, which was written by Papa Nihil as a way of expressing his love for Sister Imperator to her and also indirectly apologizing for kissing an audience member during a performance of "Kiss the Go-Goat" (the other 1969 song).
Comments: This has gotta be my favorite love song ever.

And as a little bonus...

IGE practicing the "Miasma" sax solo
Prequelle (Cardinal Copia's album, though the solo is usually performed live by Papa Nihil)
2018
Recorded 11-16-24 between 12:58 and 1:03 PM EST
Song Meaning: The word "miasma" means "a highly unpleasant or unhealthy smell or vapor," and the miasma theory is that diseases like the Black Death (remember, that's what Prequelle's theme is) were caused by "bad air" created from decaying organic matter.
Comments: Boy, was that fun! Even if I could barely play the dang song (I'm exaggerating; as I said, were I to take time to properly learn it, I probably could play), I had a great time trying it out. Tobias better put a sax solo on another song on the next album!

A note from the IGE of December 1st: I practically know the solo! I just need to work on tempo and playing some of the higher notes.