Written By Lucien Drake
Tobias Forge revives Repugnant, resurrecting his pre-Ghost death metal project for a new recording of “Premature Burial,” featured in the horror anthology V/H/S/Mixtape. The film premiered October 9, 2026, on Shudder, introducing an unexpected collaboration between Forge and Watain vocalist Erik Danielsson.
Long before Ghost became an international phenomenon, before the papal costumes, elaborate stage productions, and arena-sized theatrical spectacles, Forge inhabited a considerably uglier corner of the metal underground.
Back then, he was known as Mary Goore. And the music was Repugnant.
More than two decades after the band’s early recordings, Forge has returned to that world, bringing several former members together for a project that reaches directly into his musical origins.
Tobias Forge Revives Repugnant With a New Version of “Premature Burial”
The resurrection centers on “Premature Burial,” a song from Repugnant’s early catalog, now revisited with a new recording and accompanying music video.
Rather than simply repackaging an archival track, Forge assembled a lineup that reconnects the group’s history with another prominent figure from Sweden’s extreme metal underground.
Erik Danielsson, best known as the frontman of black metal band Watain, handles vocals on the new version.
Forge, who originally performed Repugnant’s vocals, returns on guitar alongside Gottfrid Åhman.
The recording also features Gustaf Lindström on bass and Thomas Daun on drums, both musicians with previous connections to the band.
Danielsson’s involvement introduces an especially interesting dynamic. While Ghost developed a distinctive identity through theatrical heavy metal, occult imagery, and increasingly melodic songwriting, Watain has remained firmly associated with the uncompromising traditions of black metal.
Bringing those worlds together under the Repugnant name creates a connection between different branches of Sweden’s extreme metal history.
And for longtime followers of Forge’s career, the sight of Repugnant returning to the conversation is significant in itself.
Before Ghost, Tobias Forge Was Mary Goore
Repugnant emerged in Stockholm in 1998, years before Ghost would become the defining project of Forge’s career.
Where Ghost eventually embraced melodic hooks, vintage hard rock influences, and elaborate theatrical mythology, Repugnant drew from the rotten foundations of old-school death metal.
The band’s music belonged to a tradition built on distorted guitars, aggressive rhythms, morbid imagery, and an atmosphere that owed more to underground horror than polished rock spectacle.
Forge performed under the name Mary Goore, a persona far removed from the carefully constructed identities he would later develop for Ghost.
Repugnant’s best-known release, Epitome of Darkness, arrived in 2006, after the band’s original period of activity had ended.
The album subsequently developed a following among listeners interested in the Swedish death metal underground and Forge’s musical history before Ghost.
Although Repugnant briefly resurfaced in the early 2010s, the project largely disappeared as Ghost’s international profile expanded.
For many listeners, it became an intriguing footnote in the story of a musician who would eventually become one of contemporary metal’s most recognizable figures. Now, that footnote has clawed its way out of the grave.
Repugnant’s Return Becomes Part of the V/H/S Horror Franchise
The new “Premature Burial” recording appears in V/H/S/Mixtape, the ninth installment of the popular found-footage horror anthology franchise.
Released October 9 through Shudder, the film centers on the destructive and supernatural possibilities of music and sound.
Its collection of horror stories and music-video interludes brings together filmmakers and musicians from several creative disciplines.
Forge makes his directorial debut with the new Repugnant video, placing his longstanding fascination with horror imagery into a different artistic medium.
The film also includes contributions from Flying Lotus, RZA, Ernest Dickerson, David Moreau, and Renee Zhan, while shock-metal veterans GWAR make an appearance. It’s an unusually fitting setting for Repugnant’s resurrection.
The early band’s imagery and musical identity were heavily indebted to the atmosphere of underground horror cinema, making the transition into a deliberately distorted, VHS-inspired production feel like a natural extension of its original aesthetic.
Forge has spent years merging music and visual storytelling through Ghost. With V/H/S/Mixtape, he applies those instincts to a considerably more grotesque chapter of his musical past.
Could Repugnant Return Beyond V/H/S/Mixtape?
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the project is what remains unanswered.
Forge has recently been linked to speculation surrounding additional death metal material, particularly as Ghost enters a period of reduced activity.
Reports involving drummer Johan Koleberg and comments surrounding Earache Records have fueled discussion about whether Forge is developing a separate extreme metal project.
However, those reports do not establish that a full Repugnant reunion or new album is underway.
The new recording of “Premature Burial” demonstrates that Forge is willing to revisit the band’s material, but there has been no confirmed announcement of a forthcoming Repugnant album or concert schedule.
A single recording created for a horror film is not necessarily the beginning of a permanent reunion.
Still, the decision to bring back former members, revisit an early composition, and recruit Danielsson for vocals suggests that Forge approached this project as more than a casual nostalgic reference. Whether it develops into something larger remains an open question.
Tobias Forge’s Death Metal Past Refuses to Stay Buried
For listeners who discovered Tobias Forge through Ghost, Repugnant offers a glimpse into an earlier creative identity, one that operated without the elaborate mythology and polished production that later defined his career.
For longtime death metal fans, the group’s return carries a different kind of significance.
Repugnant was never simply an early version of Ghost. It represented a separate musical tradition, rooted in the uncompromising ugliness of Sweden’s underground extreme metal scene.
Tobias Forge revives Repugnant at a moment when his artistic interests appear to be extending beyond the boundaries of Ghost, although his longer-term plans remain unconfirmed.
For now, “Premature Burial” has a new incarnation, Erik Danielsson has stepped behind the microphone, and a long-dormant death metal project has returned through the unlikely doorway of a horror anthology.
Before the papal robes and cathedral-sized choruses, there was Mary Goore. Apparently, the grave wasn’t deep enough.
V/H/S/Mixtape is streaming on Shudder.
About The Author:
Lucien Drake is a writer and archivist at Metal Lair, contributing across features, essays, cultural commentary, and long-form series including Deep Cuts, Road Riffs and editorial projects exploring music, memory, and resistance.
Known for treating heavy music as living history rather than nostalgia, Drake focuses on influence over canon, context over hype, and the stories that survive outside official timelines.
Read More From Lucien Drake:
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