Dan Malsch Mixes Milestone Ghost Album

Stockholm, Sweden (July 21, 2025)—Ghost scored a first in April when the Swedish rock band debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 with its latest album, Skeletá, which was mixed by Dan Malsch on a console he had never used before.

Skeletá is the sixth studio album by Ghost, whose #1 Billboard 200 debut was also the first time in more than four years that a hard rock band has topped the U.S. album chart. Malsch mixed the 10-song collection at IMRSV Music in Stockholm on the facility’s 48-channel Solid State Logic Duality Pro-Station console. He was also the mix engineer on Ghost’s previous album and has mixed the band’s entire catalogue in Dolby Atmos.

Malsch had never used a Duality before mixing Skeletá on the console for three weeks at IMRSV, a former EMI Studio built in 1969. “The Duality is very clean but has a harmonic drive that you can kick in,” he says. “Also, there’s nothing like the speed of working on the Duality—it was a dream and a pleasure to work on.”

Mixing Skeletá gave Malsch the opportunity to compare IMRSV’s Duality to the vintage SSL 4000 E/G+ console at his own Soundmine Recording in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. “This new record needed to be more polished, and I found that the way I liked to work the Duality was to be open-sounding, punchy and clean. The Duality EQ is a little more precise and not as broad sounding, which is something I love about it. I think this Skeletá record really benefited from the sound of the Duality.”

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​Working in Stockholm put Malsch in closer proximity to singer, principal songwriter and producer (under the pseudonym Gene Walker) Tobias Forge, the driving force behind Ghost, who would periodically visit IMRSV to make notes and approve mixes. “I will get the overall sound of a mix within a few hours, but for me a mix is a full day. Then, usually, there are revisions. Tobias would come in to listen, and I might have three or four songs ready for him to hear,” Malsch says. “With my assistant, Basma Jabbar, we could recall a session quickly.”

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He adds, “Basma was a lifesaver. She knew the console really well and would help me with my recalls. We were doing 16-hour days, and she would keep me laughing and make sure that I had food. She’s an unbelievable assistant.”