Ghost’s Tobias Forge on “tremendous influence” of Black Sabbath: “Heaviness is great – but there’s so much more in that kitchen”

nme.com:

Ghost‘s Tobias Forge has opened up about the “tremendous influence” Black Sabbath have had on him throughout his life.The frontman of the Swedish occult metal band is slated to play at Ozzy Osbourne and co’s final concert at Villa Park in the latter’s hometown of Birmingham on Saturday July 5 as Papa Perpetua.

The upcoming show will see Black Sabbath’s most iconic line-up – comprising Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward – play live together for the first time in two decades.The stacked line-up also includes the likes of Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Lamb Of God, Mastodon, Alice In Chains, Halestorm, recent Grammy-winners Gojira, Guns ‘N’ Roses, Tool, Jason Momoa and Rival Sons.While appearing as the latest guest on NME‘s In Conversation series, Forge discussed how Black Sabbath impacted his life.

He explained that they “have been a tremendous influence on me. Ozzy as a frontman and Ozzy as a solo artist is something I put a divide between, because I grew up in the ‘80s where he was much more of a rockstar than Black Sabbath were.

I gravitated towards that, but I also grew up listening to the old Black Sabbath records.“Nowadays, I love most Black Sabbath releases.