A new Ghost song may be along sooner than later, going by the latest recording timeline laid out by bandleader Tobias Forge. As revealed in a recent interview, the band will enter the studio in January 2020 to track a new song that's distinct from the group's upcoming studio album.

That's how the prolific musician put it to KaaosTV ahead of Ghost's sold-out gig in Helsinki, Finland, last month. Although Forge previously revealed the band's next album would be recorded without his live band and with the help of a non-metal producer, it appears that a single new Ghost song will emerge on a separate project before that effort arrives. Listen to the full interview down toward the bottom of this post.

"I have been in the studio a couple of days to record a few demos," Forge explained, as transcribed by Blabbermouth. "I started that already in the summer, just to feel that, 'Okay. I've started.' After New Year's, I'm gonna go into the studio. First, I'm gonna record one song that's gonna be part of something that we will know of in the year from now. So that's the first thing. And that's basically one singular song for something, and that's gonna be just to sort of get the rocks off a little. Because that way, you can go into a new studio, maybe — you can try something like that.

He continued, "You can try that new amp that you wanted to try, and that's more like an experiment. So, as soon as I'm done with that in January — that's gonna be the first or second week in January — after that, I'm just gonna start full time, Monday through Friday, being in the studio writing."

As Forge has outlined elsewhere, his schedule for the coming year includes those writing sessions to continue up until May. After June 1, he plans to be in the studio recording Ghost's fifth album in earnest.

In October, the frontman said his alter ego Papa Emeritus IV will lead Ghost's next album. The month before that, the musician talked about a possible book or screen adaptation that could describe Ghost's backstory.

Following their fourth album, Prequelle, 2019 saw the release of two fresh Ghost tracks, "Kiss the Go-Goat" and "Mary on a Cross," both from the standalone Seven Inches of Satanic Panic single. The act will be off the road for most of 2020 to accommodate the sessions mentioned above. Get Ghost concert tickets here.

Ghost's Tobias Forge Talks to KaaosTV - Nov. 28, 2019