Credit: Mikael Eriksson/Infernal DeathFour former members of Ghost have filed a lawsuit against frontman Papa Emeritus, the pseudonym of Tobias Forge.
In a statement to Blabbermouth.net, the four musicians, known as Nameless Ghouls in the band, say they asked the Linkoping District Court in their native Sweden to require Forge to “declare the incomes as well as expenses of the band concerning the years between 2011 and 2016.”
“Throughout all the years we have been on tour with Ghost…and throughout the band’s album recordings, we have neither been allowed to share in the profits of the band, nor have we seen any of the incomes accounted for,” the statement reads. “The only thing we have received have been minimal advance payments to allow the band to keep going. This despite the fact that we had an agreement that any profits should be shared fairly between the members of the band.”
The statement continues to say that Forge and his lawyers have drawn up new contracts that would make the band members, in their words, “merely consultants working for [Forge’s] company, an agreement also stating that we would receive less that a minimal wage for our contributions to the band.”
“Our vocalist and former friend is now attempting to, in a underhand and shameless way, transform Ghost from a band into a solo project with hired musicians,” the former Nameless Ghouls write. “Naturally, this is not something we can accept.”
At the end of the statement, the musicians officially reveal their identities as Simon Soderberg, Mauro Rubino, Henrik Palm and Martin Hjertstedt. Ex-Ghost guitarist Martin Persner, who revealed his identity last month, is not a part of the lawsuit.
Soderberg also posted the statement on his private Facebook page. You can view a screen-shot of the post at MetalSucks.net.
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