PRIEST Feat. Former Members Of GHOST: 'Body Machine' Album Due In July

PRIEST, the synthwave act featuring former members of the Grammy Award-winning Swedish rock act GHOST, will release a new full-length album, "Body Machine", on July 15 on all formats, including CD, vinyl and digital.

The LP's early singles "A Signal In The Noise" and "Techno Girl" have already been generating a major buzz across both the metal and electronic music worlds, preparing the path for the full-length release. Produced by Simon Söderberg, another GHOST alumni, "Body Machine" will be the band’s third studio album and their first to be released in conjunction with U.S. indie label juggernaut Cleopatra Records.

But for now, fans can bask in the glory of another stellar pre-release single, the throbbing, hypnotic "Blacklisted", which is released today on all digital platforms.

PRIEST had this to say about "Body Machine": "We're excited to finally release our diverse and heavy rhythm-driven third album! 'Body Machine' is steeped in darkness, but it also shows glimpses of hope through the black, hovering smog of polluted future cities."

"Body Machine" track listing:

01. A Signal In The Noise
02. Ghost Writer
03. Hell Awaits
04. Phantom Pain
05. Blacklisted
06. Perfect Body Machine
07. Techno Girl
08. Crystalline Lace
09. Nightcrawler
10. Keep On Burning

Hailing from the same icy darkness of the Scandinavian inland that birthed GHOST, PRIEST consists of a trio of musicians — vocalist Mercury, who was known as Water when he played bass for GHOST, keyboardist Salt, formerly known as GHOST keyboardist Air, and programmer/ keyboardist Sulfur — who came together in 2017 and started releasing their own unique brew of electronic music that bears little sonic resemblance to their former band yet still shares the same creative DNA. But whereas GHOST borrowed their theatrics from old school horror and '80s rock, PRIEST comes steeped in cyberpunk and industrial music.

In 2020, PRIEST released a new album called "Cyberhead", the follow-up to its debut, "New Flesh". "Cyberhead" was the first album since original singer Tom Åsberg (also known as Ginger Khan) left the band to pursue other projects. PRIEST mastermind Linton Rubino has taken over on vocals, which are performed by a masked character they call Mercury.

Back in 2017, GHOST leader Tobias Forge was sued by four former members of the band after being dismissed by the group's founder the previous December. They accused the singer of cheating them out of their rightful share of the profits from the band's album releases and world tours. The lawsuit was filed in the district court of Linköping, Sweden, where GHOST was originally based. It claimed that a partnership agreement existed between Forge and the four former members, all of whom performed anonymously in the band as Nameless Ghouls. As a result of the lawsuit, Forge was forced to reveal his identity after years of performing in a mask as Papa Emeritus. He has maintained that "no legal partnership" ever existed between him and the other members.

In May 2018, Linton, who played bass live in GHOST from 2013 to 2014 in the role of the Nameless Ghoul Water, blasted the band's 2018 album "Prequelle", saying he was "ashamed to have been part of that" and calling the music "a joke" and "mainstream shit."