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

Ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

. The track was released as the

lead single A lead single (or first 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. A similar term, "debut ...

from the group's third studio album ''

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''. The song peaked at number 4 on the

Mainstream Rock Songs Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" fo ...

chart, and won the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

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, where ...

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 Klas Frans Åhlund (born 11 April 1972) is a Swedish songwriter and producer. He is also a member of the band Teddybears along with Patrik Arve and his brother Joakim Åhlund. He is the brother of musician Joakim Åhlund who is a member of the Sw ...

, 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 167,000 inhabitants as of 2024. 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 talk show, late-night news satire, news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Stephen Colbert, Spartin ...

'' 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 ...

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 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive i ...

'' 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 ''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 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive in ...

. 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 (sometimes referred to as the Swedish Grammy Awards) are music awards presented annually to musicians and songwriters in Sweden. The oldest Swedish music awards were instituted as a local equivalent of the Grammy Awards given in t ...

, 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 − vocals * Nameless Ghouls – all instrumentalists: lead guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, drummer, rhythm guitarist * 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