Few bands in recent years have made quite the impact as Ghost. Feted by James Hetfield and Dave Grohl amongst others, their unique blend of `70s hard rock, AOR, pop and metal have won them legions of fans and propelled them into arenas worldwide. Metal Express Radio's Mick Burgess spoke with mainman Tobias Forge about Ghost's upcoming UK tour and the transition of Papa Emeritus to Cardinal Copia.

MER: A few years ago, you were third on the bill to Alice In Chains and Duff McKagan, then you headlined Academy club shows. This time, you`re headlining arenas (in the UK). It`s been quite a meteoric rise over a few years. What do you put that down to? Why is everything falling into place now?

Forge: "I think maybe it`s to do with the timing but also all the work that we`ve put in and it`s built up the momentum. You have your pop stars and overnight sensations that can sell out arenas quickly because of the novelty and coverage, but for us in this day and age, rock is not the big thing and we can`t rely on the mainstream to embrace our band. What I find positive is that momentum is built on touring, touring and touring. So, four albums in we are now an established band with a little bit of history that we`ve achieved through hard work, and now it`s starting to pay off for us."

MER: When you started your character was Papa Emeritus who has since been though 4 different incarnations. What`s the reasoning behind those changes?

Forge: "I wanted to introduce new characters who`d not yet risen to prominence to keep the band developing.  The last album was a transitional one, made while I was in a transitional state of mind because we had done the same thing for three albums and I wanted to do something else."

MER: You now perform as Cardinal Copia. Why did you move on from Papa Emeritus?

Forge: "You have to remember that Papa Emeritus was this slow-moving character. It was cool and fun for pictures but it was not necessarily something you can watch for 2 hours on stage. I wanted to move away from that as I thought it was too boring for a whole show. In order to orchestrate an arena show you need more than an old geezer moving slowly around the stage. Even in the future The Papa Emeritus get up will just be part of the show. You need some sort of agility on stage to keep it interesting."

Read the complete interview here. Go to this location for Ghost's complete tour schedule.