A satanic rock band from Sweden known as Ghost is planning a 13-stop tour in America beginning in New York City on January 18.

The band, which keeps the names of its members anonymous, is actually a devil-worshiping ministry that features a lead singer who calls himself “Papa Emeritus” and  dresses up as a kind of satanic pope in a skull mask and cardinal’s robes. Their “13 Dates of Doom” tour in the U.S. will include two other “doom rocker” bands, Blood Ceremony and Ancient Wisdom.

Their flyers advertise the tour in this way:

“In the name of Satan, we will conduct thirteen rituals in thirteen different cities throughout the United States and Canada and now we are summoning all of our devotees to partake in these blasphemous eves of black magic.”

The itinerary for the Ghost/Blood Ceremony/Ancient Wisdom tour is as follows:

JAN 18 : NEW YORK, NY – Bowery Ballroom
JAN 19 : WASHINGTON D.C. – Rock ´N´Roll Hotel
JAN 20 : BOSTON, MA – Middle East Downstairs
JAN 21 : MONTREAL, QC – Corona Theatre
JAN 22 : TORONTO, ON – The Mod Club
JAN 24 : CHICAGO, IL – Bottom Lounge
JAN 25 : SAINT PAUL, MN – Station Four
JAN 27 : DENVER, CO – Marquis Theatre
JAN 28 : SALT LAKE CITY, UT – The Vertigo
JAN 30 : SEATTLE, WA – El Corazon
JAN 31 : PORTLAND, OR – Hawthorne Theatre
FEB 1 : SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Bottom Of The Hill
FEB 2 : LOS ANGELES, CA – The Roxy Theatre

Now, for a little history on the group, it was formed in Sweden in 2008 and released a three-track demo and single “Elizabeth” in 2010 that significantly boosted their popularity. In addition to the lead singer’s antics, the band members’ schtick is to dress in hooded robes and refer to themselves as “Nameless Ghouls.”

But don’t be fooled into thinking this band is just using some kind of “shock-and awe” tactic to get attention. Here’s an excerpt from the group’s bio, which appears on the Metal Blade Records website:

“Standing motionless and anonymous beneath the painted faces, hoods and robes which their sect demand, the six nameless ghouls of Ghost deliver litanies of sexually pulsating heavy rock music and romantic lyrics, which glorify and glamorize the disgusting and sacrilegious, with the simple intention to communicate a message of pure evil via the most effective device they can find: Entertainment. This is Black Metal at its most original and deceiving; compositions such as ‘Ritual’ and ‘Death Knell’ majestically weave their melodic spell of evil through the senses until the listener finds themselves utterly possessed and open to any diabolical suggestion.”

It goes on to announce that ” . . . Rise Above Ltd will invest heavily in areas such as magazine advertising and retail marketing and employ the services of music publicity specialists in order to expose the music of Ghost to the wider public. Specific attention will be paid to targeting people (research suggests these are most likely to be adolescents) who have a void in their life, perhaps caused by some form of emotional trauma or upset. This can be alluringly filled by the music and philosophies of Ghost. In time, these easily manipulated children will come to share the views and goals of the Ghost ministry and can prepare their own plans for the downfall of humanity…”

For those of you who still need convincing, check out the lyrics to their song, “Satan’s Prayer”:

Believe in one God we do, Satan Almighty,
The uncreator of heaven and soul,
And the unvisible and visible,
And in his son,
Begotten of father,
By whom all things shall be unmade.

Who for man and his damnation
Incarnated,
Rise up from hell,
From sitteth on the left hand of his father,
From thense he shall come to judge
Out of one substance
With Satan
Whose kingdom shall haveth no end.

Hear our Satan prayer,
Our anit-Nicene creed,
Hear our Satan prayer,
For the coming of seed.

Unholy Ghost
Overlord and taker of life,
Hear our Satan prayer,
Our anti-Nicene creed,
Hear our Satan prayer,
For the coming of seed.

The devil has found a much too willing medium in the occult rock movement and is delivering its deadly message to more and more children every day. Parents need to beware of these bands and the rest of us need to pray for protection from this and all other devices of Satan that are being used to rob Our Lord of too many precious souls!