Ghost performed a short acoustic set at Los Angeles's Grammy Museum on May 1st. Brief video clips from the performance, which included the songs "Rats", "Cirice" and "Jigolo Har Megiddo", can be seen below:

Ghost founder and frontman Tobias Forge promises his group will be bigger and better when it begins its North American tour on May 5th in Riverside, CA.

"It will definitely be an upgrade," Forge, who will be introducing his new character Cardinal Copia, tells Billboard. He promises "a few songs we haven't played in years" as well as material from the upcoming Prequelle album. And the ranks of the Nameless Ghouls have swelled as well.

"We have a bigger band now in terms of personnel," Forge says, "so it's way more live now. Before we were doing a little bit of the modern trickery, with backing tracks and stuff to make the whole sound a certain way. Now we're taking that away so we're a little more like a Springsteen or Guns N' Roses sort of band with backup singers and everything. It feels great. It's gonna be the best version yet - but there's still a lot to come after that."

Read more at Billboard.com.

Ghost have announced their first-ever headline arena dates in support of their fourth sacred psalm Prequelle. Ghost will perform at The Forum in Los Angeles, CA on November 16th and Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY on December 15th. Tickets for both shows go on sale on this Friday, May 4th at 10 AM, local time and will be available here.

Ghost broke news of the arena performances this morning with a special press conference helmed by Papa Nihil and Sister Imperator at Irving Plaza in New York City. Watch their special sermon via the band's Facebook here. The duo also debuted the Chapter Three: Back On The Road live at the event, finally putting to rest the age old question of where all the Papas go. Watch the band prepare for their upcoming tour dates in the clip below:

Prequelle (pronounced prē-KWELL) will be released on June 1st via Loma Vista Recordings. Prequelle is available for pre-order here. Limited edition bundles featuring colored vinyl with 3D lenticular cover art,  8-track cartridge, cassette tape, "Rats" die cut picture disc, plague mask, musical eucharist case, pins, and more available exclusively in the Ghost Shop here.

Prequelle was announced earlier this month alongside lead single "Rats" and an accompanying music video directed by Roboshobo. Watch the video below. "Rats" is available to stream and download now via iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, and Google Play. Fans who pre-order The Album will receive an instant download of the track.

In an interesting twist in Ghost's saga, Cardinal Copia has been appointed to take over vocal duties for the forthcoming psalm. Meet him in the video below:

Lyrically, Prequelle delves into the plague, the apocalypse, and dark ages. The entire body of work is also a snapshot of the world in which we live in on a daily basis, brought to life through an emotive, enlightening, and riveting body of songs.

Prequelle tracklisting:

"Ashes"
"Rats"
"Faith"
"See The Light"
"Miasma"
"Dance Macabre"
"Pro Memoria"
"Witch Image"
"Helvetesfonster"
"Life Eternal

"Rats" video:

Ghost will embark on a US tour that will kick off on May 5th in Riverside, CA, and visit US Cities throughout the spring. Tickets for the Rats On The Road Tour are available here.

(Photo - Mikael Eriksson)