“He Is” by Ghost, A Satanic Parody on Preachers

For those not in the know, Ghost is a contemporary band in playing music in the vein of classic heavy metal and hard rock like Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult. Their songs are almost exclusively about Satan. Also, their lead singer dresses up like a Satanic Pope. You may ask what more you need out of a band, and the answer is that you don’t.

Their most recent album has a soft song on it called “He Is”, which is more or less a parody of religious music. Look at some of the lyrics.

He is
He’s the shining and the light without whom I cannot see
And he is
Insurrection, he is spite, he’s the force that made me be
He is
Nostro dis pater, nostr’ alma mater
He is

Upon listening passively, one could easily be fooled into thinking that this is a praise or worship song, and you would be right to think that. It kind of is, in a sense. But the lyrics, based on both reading through the song and within the greater context of the band are clearly about Satan and a disdain for religious authority.

The band released a music video for this song, which you can watch below.

In it, the lead singer (Papa Emeritus), in skeletal facepaint, dresses up and uses religious imagery and enacts some of the behaviors of an evangelical congregation leader. Specifically, he is particularly reminiscent of pastors in the Southern Baptist position. He uses wild gesticulations and poses, he “spiritually” pushes members of his congregation at the front of the chapel a la Benny Hinn, he passes the plate around, he baptizes women in white clothing, and he gathers a couple of children around him to introduce them to the good news.

This band is pretty gimmicky and their art may not actually have much depth beyond surface-level interpretations, but that doesn’t mean their art can’t be interpreted further, but there is at least one thing to notice in this music video.

When I first watched it, I was wondering when the music video would shift to expose the darker sides of these religious practices. I was wondering when the “twist” would be. Would it turn to sacrifice? Would Papa Emeritus hypnotize his entire cult into doing his bidding? Would there be some commentary on the dark implications of what this Church Behavior leads to? I was kind of surprised that all these tropes were played (mostly) straight.

Then I realized that the twist is that they are played straight. And they are creepy. All it takes is for the pastor to paint his face to evoke dark imagery, and suddenly it becomes instantly apparent that the group he is leading is a bizarre cult. There really aren’t many significant differences between Papa and some of the more outlandish Southern Baptist preachers. While some of their odd gesticulations and evocations are much more in line with rock stars than what you would expect from a spiritual leader, you can still find plenty of televangelists acting in the same way.

Is it creepy for a facepainted man to handle their bodies to dip them in a river? Is it weird for the congregation to pass around a money collection plate while the man up front pushes people and yells in their faces? If so, why isn’t it weird for preachers to do it?

The answer is, of course, that it’s still weird as Hell!