"Cirice" ( , ; 'church') is a song by the Swedish rock band

Ghost A ghost is the soul (spirit), soul or spirit of a dead Human, person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visibl ...

. The track was released as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release ...

from the group's third studio album '' Meliora''. The song peaked at number 4 on the Mainstream Rock Songs chart, and won the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

for

Best Metal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for works (songs or albums) containing quality performances in the heavy metal music genre. The Grammy Awards is an annual ceremony, wher ...

in 2016. "Cirice" is featured in the video game '' Rock Band VRs setlist.

Background and release

"Cirice" was originally conceived together with "Devil Church", which was its opening, as a very dark and doomy nine-minute instrumental without a chorus. With the assistance of producer Klas Åhlund, a chorus materialized and the two parts were split. "Cirice" was released as a free download from the band's official website on May 30, 2015. It was first performed live at their June 3, 2015 concert in their hometown of

Linköping Linköping () is a city in southern Sweden, with around 105,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Chu ...

. A CD-single coupled with the B-side "Absolution" was released on July 31, 2015 exclusively in independent record stores in the United States. Chad Childers of ''Loudwire'' noted the track as "building in tension and heaviness as it progresses." The song was performed live on ''

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Spartina Productions and CBS Studios, it is the second ite ...

'' on October 31, 2015, marking the band's first appearance on American television. The single's artwork is a reference to '' Silence of the Lambs''.

Music video

The song's music video, directed by Roboshobo, was inspired by the 1976 film '' Carrie''. The video shows the band as schoolchildren performing the song at a school talent show, with a boy playing Papa Emeritus III (with Papa Emeritus II facepaint). As he sings the song, he is focused on a girl in the crowd with the two sharing a psychic connection of some kind. As the song climaxes, the principal tries to remove the boy from stage. The girl angrily rises to her feet and reveals "Carrie-like" psychic powers by mentally forcing the principal to release the boy, and then using her powers at random on the rest of the crowd. People run from the auditorium screaming, while the girl continues to smile. Eventually the principal manages to unplug the band's amplifier and puts an end to the madness. After the song ends, a man and a woman, presumably the boy's parents, stand up and cheer for the band with glee.

Reception

"Cirice" peaked at number 4 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

s Mainstream Rock Songs chart. ''

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August of 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive ...

'' ranked the song second on their list of the 20 Best Metal Songs of 2015. "Cirice" and its music video were nominated for Best Metal Song and Best Metal Video in the 2015 Loudwire Music Awards. The song won the

for

in 2016. A member of the band said that when he got the text message informing him of the nomination, he assumed it was for a

Grammis The Grammis are music awards presented annually to musicians and songwriters in Sweden. The oldest Swedish music awards, they were instituted as a local equivalent of the Grammy Awards given in the United States. The awards ceremony is general ...

, which are considered the Swedish equivalent to the American awards and which Ghost has won in the past.

Track listing

Charts

Certifications

Personnel

Papa Emeritus III Tobias Forge (; born 3 March 1981) is a Swedish singer, musician, and songwriter. He is the leader and primary songwriter of the masked rock band Ghost, performing live as their vocalist under the stage names Papa Emeritus and Cardinal Copi ...

−

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

* Nameless Ghouls – all instrumentalists:

lead guitarist Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featured ...

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low bra ...

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical ins ...

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer' ...

rhythm guitarist In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guita ...

* David M. Brinley − single artwork

References

External links

* {{authority control 2015 singles 2015 songs Ghost (Swedish band) songs Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance Songs written by Tobias Forge Songs written by Klas Åhlund