The most controversial concert of Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion’s season takes center stage Saturday, September 2 with the arrival of Swedish heavy metal band Ghost.

With four albums reaching Top 10 on Billboard’s album chart, including its latest release Impera, hitting No. 1, three Grammy nominations including a win for Best Metal Performance in 2016, and multiple nominations for the 2023 iHeartRadio Music Awards, Ghost battles opposition from some critics who decry their performances as anti-Christian.

Swedish death metal band Amon Amarth is the “special guest” opener (show starts at 7:30 pm). Tickets are $29 to $169 plus those beloved service fees, available at Ticketmaster and the pavilion’s website. Tickets on the secondary market are as low as $10 for the lawn up to $700 plus fees for down front.

Controversy is Ghost’s surround sound. In 2012, a Nashville gospel group hired to sing backup on a Ghost album walked out of the studio when they saw lyrics they deemed anti-Christian. Ghost couldn’t find a record manufacturer in the U.S. willing to press an album because the cover contained nudity.

A Chicago greasy spoon named Kuma’s Corner created the “Ghost Burger” made with goat shoulder and red wine reduction, served with a communion wafer. Some food bloggers decried the burger as sacrilegious. Ghost fans answered it’s “sacrilicious.” Time Magazine called it one of the “most influential burgers of all time.” It’s still on the menu as a recurring favorite, like the McRib at McDonald’s.

In 2018, Texas pastor Larry Long and his congregation protested Ghost’s performance at the Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center in Midland. Pastor Larry Long labeled Ghost as “devil worshippers” and asked the venue to cancel the show. Days before the event, Long and his supporters gathered to “plead the blood of Christ” in protest of Ghost’s appearance.

“We have a freedom of religion in America, which means a freedom of irreligion and anti-Christian faith. And so, yes, the band bothers me,” Long told a Midland radio talk host.

He continued, “I think the community should be alarmed about it. This is not healthy for the community. Because we Christians believe the devil is real, and I’m sure the band believes the devil is real. I doubt that they’re just doing this as part of their schtick for music.”

The venue’s management issued a statement. “Shock rock has been a part of the heavy metal landscape from the early days of Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper and Marilyn Manson. Each performer brings to the stage their own version of a cruel world. Ghost is continuing in those metal bands’ footsteps. The venue is dedicated to offering a variety of performances that appeal to different audiences.”

The show went on without incident, nearly selling out the 1,200-seat building.

The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion expects a crowd between 8,500 to 9,000 fans for Ghost’s concert Saturday night. It will be Ghost’s second time at The Woodlands outdoor showcase.

The group opened for Avenged Sevenfold in 2013. There were no incidents or protests that time and officials don’t expect any incidents or protests this time. In fact, there has never been a protest over any show in the pavilion’s 20-year history.

Lead singer Tobias Forge formed Ghost in Linkoping, Sweden in 2006. Three years later, the group released its first album called Opus Eponymous. Kerrang, a British magazine dedicated to heavy metal music, placed one of the album’s tracks, “Ritual,” on its list of “The 50 Most Evil Songs Ever.”

Tobias performs in various incarnations of a satanic priest called Papa Emeritus. So far he’s been Papa Emeritus II, Papa Emeritus III, Papa Emeritus IV, Papa Emeritus Zero, and Papa Nihil. Before the current tour, Ghost was the supporting act for Metallica and Guns N’ Roses in the U.S.

Ghost’s music has been labeled as death metal, occult rock, and symphonic metal along the style of Metallica, Judas Priest, and Pentagram. Theatrically, Ghost concerts raise comparisons to Alice Cooper, KISS, and David Bowie. Ghost music is not for the sensitive of ear, the subject matter not for the pious of soul, their concerts not for the faint of heart.

Which means I’ll be there.

Contact Ken Hoffman at ken@culturemap.com or on Twitter.