Ghost's Tobias Forge: How I Wrote 'Square Hammer' | Metal Song of the Decade 

Tobias Forge looks like he manages a mid-sized Hot Topic

we all want someone who looks at us like the way Graham looks at Tobias

Tobias is a great singer/songwriter, a genius in Heavy Metal. I love Ghost

5:50 he says basically we haven’t noticed something in the video. PAPA IS ALIVE BECAUSE THERES TWO OF HIM!!!!!!!!!

The questions are very "advanced", like he expects some super deep stuff. And Tobias is so casual. Kinda refreshing. Maybe not what people expect.

"If there's one band I listen to more than Blue Öyster Cult, it's Uriah Heep." Makes sense. Always heard the BÖC influence but I wouldn't have guessed Uriah Heep, now that he's said it I can hear it tho.

"Release and EP toward the end of the tour to prolong the agony of the haters more." I love this man.

I wouldn't mind if Tobias would be your new Corey Taylor. I just can't get enough of this man speaking.

I would like to hear Ghost cover "two minutes to midnight". I am a Maiden fan and a Ghost fan.

I love the fact that tobias always bigs up his influences. I've seen neil young pearl jam, soundgarden, monster magnet, ACDC, Metallica, megadeth, Alice in chains, faith no more, hawkwind and motorhead loads of times and Ghost belong in that elite category of rock and metal bands in terms of an excellent show.

I think I read somewhere that Tobias saw OZZY open his set at the 1989 Moscow Music Peace Festival with "I Don't Know" and that also influenced him to want a really rocking opening song for concerts- but his take on 'I Don't Know' in the form of "Square Hammer" became so successful it turned into the band's closer and more like their "Crazy Train." Plus now they use "Rats" for the opening song which ironically sounds kinda like "I Don't Know." Plus "Rats" also has a cool drum intro like Ozzy's "Over The Mountain." 😉

Only day before yesterday met Cardinal Copia in Zurich show. And looking at this video I‘m again and again astonished, how good Tobias play the character up! Really alterego! )))

Metalheads always be acting like they got a PhD in metal and know exactly where one genre ends and another begins

5:15 WOOOOEEEEIIIEOOOOOUUH

Bought the Vinyl release of the song at a show for $60. NO REGRETS.

You would think English was his main language. I love this man, he's a genius!

Watching an interview with Tobias in an Iron Maiden shirt made my life!!!

Loved that Uriah Heep and Blue Oyester Cult shout out!

I love how they keep panning to the interviewer and he looks so happy and in love. So cute. Great interview.

Well deserved. Congratulations.

Cirice is Metal song of the Decade imo

This was the song that introduced me to Ghost. It just popped up on here on the sidebar while I was watching a Rammstein video ... and immediately fell in love. 🖤 Sometimes RU-vid gets me 🤣

amazing musician

Ahhh, the cardinal at the end of the square hammer video!

" Auf gute Freunde" von den Onkelz 🤘 Fast die gleiche Melodie und doch so unterschiedliche Songs. Love it

Love this band

I love how he's so straight forward and down to earth.

And now the decade is going to be over, but Loudwire's fellating of Ghost is nowhere near it's end. W"elcome to 2020 and the new slipknotghostwire.com!"

I MUST agree with Tobias about "Square hammer" being the first song by Ghost to be played on the radio here in the US. I had been listening to the West Virginia college station and had heard "Square hammer" on the radio, and had then came here to RU-vid to hear more of Ghost. I now LOVE damn near EVERY song by Ghost. In the USA, it DOES help to have radio play, just so that people are aware of your band and your bands "hit songs" if you are dealing with YOUNG PEOPLE. Ghost has so many great songs that basically they have fans that just LOVE MOST or all of their songs. As for me, I still need to buy "popestar" and "opus Eponymous" or however you spell it. AND, now, since there are NO MORE "record stores", I would have to buy the CD's on "Amazon" or another online source. BUT, I do NOT have an "amazon account", BUT, my mom does. And so, YOU are LIKELY to SEE my delima..... IF I were to use my mothers "Amazon account" to buy my GHOST cd;s, that means that SHE will be seeing the titles of the songs on those cd;s. Most people will say "so what, you are an adult", BUT, she had bullied me into returning a CD back to a record store back when our local mall had still had a "record store". It was NOT a Ghost CD, and I can't recall what bands cd it was, it had a really popular song on the radio that had the popular or "hit song" being something about a thorn in the rose, and the band was from Germany OR Scandinavia. As soon as my mom knew that I owned that CD, she went online to read the lyrics, and soon she had browbeaten me into returning my CD . SO, I am just PISSED that I can NOT just go into a "record store" AND BUY the CD';s that I want. YES, I am 50 years old, BUT, I would HATE to have to get into a fight with my mom over my choice in music. She is "hella religious" and I REALLY wish that I could just avoid the whole "flashback" to childhood, that I am guaranteed to have just by using HER "Amazon" account. I am going to go on Ebay FIRST to see if they have these 2 Ghost CD;s for sale.

He says he got the riff idea from an earlier song but I'm stuck trying to remember which one

Saw ghost in Green Bay, and everybody went crazy when they played square hammer!

Wow, he finally revealed his identity

Graham with a full beard. Looking like a proper little man!

Tobias interviews are the best!

Ghostwire🖤🖤🤘

Going back right now to look for the hints of things to come hidden in the SH video......

Square Hammer chorus is catchy as hell

He seems like such a good dude and makes me want to get better at my own language and the others I’m studying. Jesus, what a command of the English language. Clearly we’re doing something wrong in the US. Lol.

I’ll pay in blood to see Ghost in Syracuse when they arrive in august.

the little mierk and they kill it is amazing when hes talking about he is on radio play

This guy is awesome!!!

I love Type O Negative’s accompaniment to FW Murnau’s Nosferatu, but oh my goodness, a Ghost one would be amazing too 🧛🏻‍♂️

i kinda love that tobias idk why doesnt have an accent but he does what I do when speaking inglish just a lot of eeeee to figurout the translated thooughts

It's very metal to beep "fuck."

5:45 is he talking about the cardinal bird in the graveyard from the music video?

I was surprised they did Missionary Man that was a great surprise and a wonderful cover!

Dont have a big opener?? Infestissumam into Per aspera ad inferi is absolutely legendary. Gives me goose bumps seeing it live

So that's the dude behind the make up.. 😳wow.. he looks like Ferris Bueller, and he took a day off to front a great rock band.. I'd skip school too to play in my band if it was Ghost 😁.. really kool to actually see the singer of Ghost as just himself.. the theatrics and make up is what gives Ghost its mysteriousness

Ghost performing "Square Hammer" was my first time seeing/hearing them. I was an instant fan and fell in love with both the audio as well as the visual. For these reasons "Square Hammer" will forever be my favorite Ghost song. 🎶😍🎶

He definitely kept it on the "square" with square hammer :)

Square Hammer is the first Ghost song I heard. It was an NXT Takeover theme.

Can’t wait until this interview is done.. to go hear the actual song again!

He seems like a relatively nice guy. Why do his ex bandmates hate him so damned much? I really don't know whose story to believe.

Que olhar mais apaixonado do entrevistador sobre o entrevistado...

7:40 Suck off contest -Tobias forge 2019

I love ghost

square hammer is the enter sandman of Ghost haha. Anyone agree?

Square Hammer riff reminds me strongly of Rainbow in the Dark by Dio

I love Square Hammer. It's one of my top 5 favorite Ghost Tunes. The riff and melody are amazing. But, I'm sorry. It's not a metal song

Did anyone notice the iron maiden shirt?

It's astonishing how he talks about writing "Square Hammer" so matter-of-factly and business-like. Basically, "we needed a killer opening song so I wrote one". Much, like Ricky Bobby, Tobias wakes up in the morning and pisses excellence. Writing amazing music is just so routine for him that it hardly registers as a conscious act.

“Are you ready to swear right here right now before the devil?” Gives me goosebumps everytime

Now let’s get him on a *Hot Ones* interview

As many has said, Ghost should cover "Don't fear the reaper"

I actually really appreciate how kinda simple (for a lack of a better term) Tobias is. He just seems like a normal dude, not trying to be overly charismatic or flashy.

it doesn't even look like they're in the same room. lol

He has such flirty eyes for Tobias in this interview...lol

All these interviews with this Tobias Forge guy talking about Ghost makes me think that somehow, in a way, this Tobias Forge fellow, is associated with the band Ghost.. I could be wrong though.

I've never heard a Swedish person speak English so perfectly. I can't hear any trace at all of his native language.

*When I smoke two too many blunts and get asked: "how high are you"?* 6:06

Tobias looks like a dude I could sit down and have a few beers with while having really good, chill time. Very down to earth.

They take a lot of flak but I kinda like Ghost, progressive, smart, fun. The Imperial patch on his jacket just sealed the deal. Oh and the love for the Heep, didn't hurt either.

Squarehammer was the first ghost song I heard on RU-vid music followed by cirice (which is my favorite followed by he is).

I miss the interviews with emeritus, I would love to see cardinal copia giving this kind of interviews

*6:06* "aaah very high, highly, high, high, I high, in high regard" good job

"Just to sort of... prolong the agony for the haters" I love him

7:40 Me, yelling scoldingly: “TOBIAS!”

This is why I love him. He is not above saying, "Hey I use someone else's shit to come up with my music."

I love how Tobias was on the square with this guy and leveled with him.

The question as to where the decision came from to use the Nosferatu style of horror was a really good question. Bravo interviewer

Can we all just appreciate Graham’s smile and beard.

"this might happen in the future, i think even more than people have noticed" ...tobias totally added a new room to his house, didn't he?

I'm always amazed when you watch him, Mikael Akerfeldt or even Richard Kruspe, speak and remember this is not their native language. The Europeans, in particular the Scandinavians, speak English so well. They're writing and performance of lyrics in a complete other language is an overlooked achievement in my opinion.

This was the song that got me into Ghost in the first place and it's one of my favourite songs by them, it's just so freaking badass

This was interesting af. I'm not a fan of Ghost, but this definitely makes want to check them out. More of these types of interviews, please! I love hearing how musical artists create.

0:08 this hand move is hilarious 🙊

0:59 It’s so funny hearing people swearing in their native languages forgetting that they’re supposed to speak English.

I wish they'd also gone into the lyrical content a bit. Like: Is it about the freemasonry yay or nay?

This guy being into BOC and Uriah Heep automatically makes him the greatest man alive.

Miasma was the first Ghost song I every heard. I'm really late to the game, but that sax solo snatched my heart.

7:40 Graham loved that

If Ghost were to get the song of the decade I would have chosen Secular Haze personally. I love the song, I love how cheesy the video was and I still show that to people who have, surprisingly, never heard of Ghost before as the introduction because the humor in the video and the lyrics is just so great. Square Hammer is a good choice though.

I can't wait for the new song, next month. And the new album, later in the year!

Graham clearly has a stiffy for Tobias. The dreamy look on his face says it all. Hanging on his every word. Lol

I love Tobias' patch for the Galactic Empire

the opening riff gives me Dio's Rainbow in the dark vibes

7:40 You can leave Onkel Kånkel but Onkel Kånkel never leaves you

7:40 😂

He is without a doubt the best single creator living in my opinion.

Is no one gonna talk about 7:40?? No??