Phantomime (Ghost EP)

Phantomime is the fourth EP by Swedish rock band Ghost. It was released on 19 May 2023 by Loma Vista Recordings and consists of five covers of other acts. The first single from the EP, a cover of Genesis's song "Jesus He Knows Me", was released on 9 April 2023.^[3] The second and final single, a cover of Iron Maiden's song "Phantom of the Opera", was released 16 May 2023.^[4]

Phantomime
EP by Ghost
Released	19 May 2023
Length	23:52
Label	Loma Vista
Producer	Rich Costey
Ghost chronology
Impera (2022) Phantomime (2023) Skeletá (2025)
Singles from Phantomime
"Jesus He Knows Me" Released: 9 April 2023 "Phantom of the Opera" Released: 16 May 2023

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Classic Rock	[1]
Metal Hammer	[2]

Background

In an interview with NME, Ghost's frontman Tobias Forge revealed that Phantomime was initially conceived as a full-length album featuring 10 cover tracks, intended to mirror Impera (2022). However, due to the impact Impera had on him, the project was reduced to an EP. Forge said that he began recording demos for Phantomime alongside those for Impera and had plans to cover songs by Motörhead, Misfits, and U2.

He also recorded a demo for Rush's "Distant Early Warning".^[5]

Regarding the first single released, Genesis's "Jesus He Knows Me", Forge said that he chose it because he felt the song's lyrics were more relevant today than they were in 1992, the year of its original release.^[5]

Release

In an interview with Revolver, Forge hinted that new music would be released before the return of Imperatour.^[6] On 7 April 2023, the band released a video on their channel hinting that something was coming, and soon after a premiere for the 9th was published.^[7][8]

Ghost released a music video for their cover of "Jesus He Knows Me" on 9 April, an Easter Sunday.^[8][9] Along with the music video, the EP was officially announced for a 18 May release.^[10] The release date was later pushed back to the 19th.^[11][12]

On 16 May the band released their cover of Iron Maiden's "Phantom of the Opera", accompanied by an official video.^[13][14]

With the release of the EP on 19 May, the band also released a browser point-and-click game.^[15][16]

Commercial performance

In May 2023 Phantomime spent one week at number 8 on the UK album charts.^[17]

Track listing

Phantomime track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"See No Evil" (Television cover)	Tom Verlaine	4:04
2.	"Jesus He Knows Me" (Genesis cover)	Tony Banks Phil Collins Mike Rutherford	4:05
3.	"Hanging Around" (The Stranglers cover)	Hugh Cornwell Jean-Jacques Burnel Dave Greenfield Jet Black	4:10
4.	"Phantom of the Opera" (Iron Maiden cover)	Steve Harris	7:23
5.	"We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)" (Tina Turner cover)	Graham Lyle Terry Britten	4:10
Total length:			23:52

Personnel

Ghost Papa Emeritus IV - vocals & bass A Group of Nameless Ghouls Additional personnel Fredrik Åkesson – guitars Salem Al Fakir - keyboards Lars Johansson - guitar solo (track 4) Luke Reynolds – additional keyboards Matt Chamberlain – drums

Technical Rich Costey – producer, recording producer, studio personnel, mixer Martin Sandmark – studio personnel, recording engineer Jeff Citron – studio personnel, engineer, assistant mixer Matt Hall – studio personnel, assistant recording engineer Ted Jensen – studio personnel, mastering engineer Hedi Xandt – cover art[18]

Charts

Chart performance for Phantomime

Chart (2023)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[19]	8
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[20]	10
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[21]	10
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[22]	15
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[23]	11
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[24]	6
French Albums (SNEP)[25]	18
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[26]	11
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[27]	21
Irish Albums (IRMA)[28]	97
Scottish Albums (OCC)[29]	3
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[30]	12
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[31]	1
Swedish Hard Rock Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[32]	1
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[33]	7
UK Albums (OCC)[17]	8
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[34]	3
US Billboard 200[35]	7
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[36]	1
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[37]	1
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[38]	2