Ghost are one of the few bands that have not greatly been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, more or less already having reserved 2020 as a year off from the touring grind. It looks like they won't be back onstage until after a new record is out, which Tobias Forge has forecasted will be released after next summer, with recording commencing in January.

At the Swedish group's only performance of 2020, which came on March 3 in Mexico, the successor in the Papa Emeritus lineage was revealed, suggesting the Cardinal Copia identity has been retired as a mystical Papa Emeritus IV was unveiled.

Tobias Forge, Ghost's visionary, songwriter and frontman, recently spoke to Sweden Rock Magazine and confirmed his long-established plan to return to the studio in January was still intact.

"The plan now is for me to be here [in the studio] writing for another two months until Christmas," Forge told the magazine (an English-language translation was provided to Blabbermouth by the magazine).

Detailing the timeline, Forge continued, "The idea is for the album to be recorded in January. The actual recording will last around six weeks and then there's two to three weeks of mixing and mastering. So sometime in March the record should be finished, but it won't be released until after the summer."

With new music to then promote, Ghost will aim to get back on the road after an extended break — a well-earned one following the exhaustive touring the band did behind 2018's Prequelle. "As it looks now, knock on wood, we will then go on tour," said Forge, who also noted, "We won't release an album until we know that we are actually going on tour. The album release will coincide with the start of a tour."

Aware that the effects of a global pandemic may still be felt and restrict touring capabilities, Forge cautioned, "Of course, we could announce an album release date and then, for some reason, it might not be possible to tour, but that's a whole other matter."

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