Before Tobias Forge was fronting Ghost as Papa Emeritus, he was growling in a death metal band called Repugnant. The band existed between 1998 and 2004, and put out one posthumous record called Epitome Of Darkness in 2006 (outside a handful of demos, splits, and an EP).
So what caused the demise of Repugnant? Reality. In an interview with Metal Hammer, Forge said he eventually realized that Repugnant wasn't what people wanted despite some glimmers of hope throughout their career.
"I learned the hard way in the late 90s that wanting to play 80s-inspired death metal with my band Repugnant was painfully out of touch with what was going on at the time," said Forge. "It broke my heart; I wanted us to be signed to Roadrunner and support Slayer. That never happened unfortunately – or perhaps fortunately, as it kept me grounded for a few more years and if those things had happened maybe I wouldn't be here today.
"Repugnant had a close shave with success. We signed to the [Dutch] label Hammerheart, which at the time felt like we'd made it because the first thing they did was take us out on our first tour, supporting the American band Macabre. They were a favourite band of ours – still are, and whenever we play Chicago they come to the shows – and at that point it felt like we might be going somewhere, but we quickly parted ways with Hammerheart because we couldn't agree. It felt like our chance and we'd blown it."
If you've never heard Epitome Of Darkness, check it out below. It's a little surprising that Repugnant's name doesn't come up more as death metal experiences an ongoing and massive revival these days. Despite the worldwide success of Ghost, Forge has previously stated that he'd love to get back to death metal at some point.
"I love that stuff. I listen to it a lot. I'm still obsessing over it from a collecting point of view. That's very much where my adolescent heart is. I grew up with a lot of music, but my adolescence was completely immersed and completely swamped with that impression.
"I still get the same kick out of things that I liked as a — not even a teenager; as an 11-year-, 12-year-old, when I really started listening to that and when death metal was this really dangerous animal that you can just go to this one store to find. And I'm still sort of chasing that.
"I have my safe spot inside where all that is, and, of course, it's materialized in a lot of physical things that I'm collecting. But I still feel that sort of urge to, in some way or form, partake in it. But I don't know in what form it will materialize."
