1. Ave prospective
Pope Guntherius I.! I know you've removed this request but if You would be
elected, which will be your first orders in Vatican?
Haha imagine: Pope Guntherius I. My first request would be rather selfish. To
open the Vatican library and enter the section with ancient “forbidden” books.
I would gather scholars who have a great knowledge of ancient Greek and Latin
and other old tongues for translation and dive into the hidden treasures.
Probably this would immediately lead to discussions within the Vatican to
replace me as this interest would reveal I am not the Pope they had in mind.
Perhaps I should play it more clever and less obvious in order to win enough
time in the library ;-)
2. We hope You will
record a new Ancient Rites album as soon as possible and crush the European
scenes. Please tell us about your future plans!
We are working on new material and matters are
progressing. We did receive interesting offers from record companies but it is
too soon to tell when or on which label the new record will be released or
where it will be recorded…The music industry has changed a lot over the past
years, studio budgets are limited as cd sales are crashing due to downloading.
I have no problem with people downloading but reality is that labels do not
dare to take risks anymore with underground bands. Also I am rather old school,
I still prefer to hold the original album in my hands but in general the
mentality has changed. Bands finance themselves mostly by selling shirts nowadays
and many pay for the own recordings etc We will see what the future will
bring, as soon as we have enough
material to record a new album we will look deeper into the matter…
3. Back in time a
little bit. You played during the late 70’s-early ’80’s in a lot of bands,
would you be so kind shortly to share some infos about that period?
In the late 70’s I formed a Punkband
named Addix in which I did vocals and bass. Our style was ’77 style Punkrock
but lyrically we differed from most bands in the style as the lyrics I wrote
were misanthropic. In the early 80’s I played bass for bands such as Subversion
(Discharge style) and Capital Scum (old school Hardcore). I formed my first
Metal band in the early 80’s. Style was Black Metal with Speed/Thrash
influences. We had names such as Necrophilia but it was impossible to find gigs
or a decent line up. The style was not as “popular” as it is nowadays. Mid 80’s
I joined a band named Nuclear Domination (Crossover) until I formed Ancient
Rites around 1988. The rest is history…When I look back it is strange to see
that several of the musicians I worked with died very young due to car
accidents or suicide. Tragic. Also two of the founding Ancient Rites members
died soon after the release of our debut demo “Dark Ritual”…I was looking at a
picture of the 2nd A.R. gig recently and I realized I am on the
photo surrounded with “dead” people: two band members but also an old friend of
mine, a first hour fan who was in front of the stage on that photo. It is
strange…Life can be hard. Past two weeks two friends of mine died, one had a
heart attack, another one a brain stroke. I have been in and out of hospital
myself a lot recently, operations and such but somehow I always pull through. I
try to enjoy every minute on this earth, no time to sit down and complain or
feel sorry for oneself.
4. As for me Ancient
Rites is a very unique band and to be honest you inspired me to write
historical lyrics for my first band, Castrum and later to Domhring. Where do
you take historical themes from? What is Your favourite historical era and why?
What is your much-loved Ancient Rites album and song?
Thanks for the compliment, much
appreciated J. I
take my inspiration from historical literature, travels to historical
locations, museums etc. My first love as a child were the Ancient times.
Ancient Rome, Gallia, Germania etc and World War II. I also developed an
interest for the middle-ages as a kid. As time passed by my interests grew
wider and wider. At this moment for instance I am reading about the Nordic
Renaissance in the Lowlands and explore the 16th century writings of
Erasmus, Pieter Gillis, Nicolas Cleynardus (who was born in my hometown, I have
an authentic 16th century work of this scholar in my collection).
But I “cross read”, at the same time I’m studying about the American Civil War,
dive into eye witness accounts of World War I, read diaries of Flemish soldiers
serving in Napoleon’s cavalry, Stanley exploring the Congo etc. The Victorian
era I find fascinating but also prehistoric times or ancient cults or
philosophy, also explorers from the Viking age to the Portuguese/Spanish
conquistadors etc My interests are very wide, I love to “jump” from century to
century, endless worlds to be discovered constantly… I have no particular fave
A.R. album or song because they all are like my children to me J
5. What bands
influenced you during the Ancient Rites era?
We weren’t influenced by any particular bands
because we felt it was/is important to achieve an own identity. This happened in
a natural way actually because keep in mind we listened to old Hardrock, lived
the birth of NWOBHM, saw the beginning of Black Metal, the rise of Thrash,
Doom, Speed Metal etc . I think we were subconsciously influenced by several
genres we had experienced over the years and tried to do our own thing which
resulted in an own identity…
6. We all know in 1998
you went into a musical direction. Why did you decided to do that? Were you
"bored" of traditional black metal?
Not at all. We never sat down to plan our
sound, it was a natural evolution of musical progress without looking down on
the tradition. Also we started working with classical and progressive musicians
who produced our albums. In order to create an epic feel fitting to the often
historical concept of the lyrics we felt it was an interesting move to
experiment with classical music, to achieve a “filmic” atmosphere without
however betraying the essence of our sound. Personally I would like to record
another “primitive” album too. The “essence” of A.R. remains the same, we don’t
mind using different “dialects” of the style. When one thinks of it: each A.R.
release sounds different, still each release undeniably sounds like Ancient
Rites.
7. You played/play
also in bands Iron Clad and Lion’s Pride. Do you have any plans to release new
albums with them in the near future?
Only a few days ago the new Lion’s Pride
release reached my address. The first prints for the band members. It was a
long wait. Soon it will be on the
market. It is a double release containing old and brand new tracks on cd and a
bonus dvd with old and new clips. It is a nice luxury edition with gatefold
cover and booklet. As far as Iron Clad
is concerned there are no plans for a new album.
8. Ancient Rites gave
a lot of concerts in Europe through the years. Share us, please, some funny
story!
Too many stories to tell J. Ok one story: we toured England
with At The Gates but got ripped off by the tour promoter who didn’t pay the
tour bus agency. The label of At The Gates promised the tour agency to pay for
the transport home of their band but our label didn’t help. We were kicked out
of the bus and stranded in England with all our equipment in the middle of
winter. We hide from the cold in telephone cells and with our last money we
called the London promoter. He paid a train ticket and we travelled to London
with only our guitars to play concerts to earn money to get back home again J Later we had to return to
England to retrieve our equipment, clothes and merchandise. A part of our
merchandise was stolen. Hard times but I had a lot of laughs, I always keep a
positive spirit even in the most difficult times, always helped me to survive…It
was hilarious, we started the tour as a big rock band in a very luxury tour bus
and returned like beggars who had to sleep in telephone cells without money for
food. Lol!
9. I’m always
fascinated when I read your posts about history on the popular social network.
How many books do you have in your own collection? Which writers/poets (Flemish
too) do you prefer?
I have been collecting books since my childhood
so one can imagine my library is rather big. On top I also collect graphical
novels. I lack room. I do not know how many books I have in my collection to be
honest. When a topic catches my interest I go to my library and find works on
the matter, often books I don’t remember buying. As a collector I buy works
that catch my interest but I wait the right moment to read them. I love reading
ancient historians and philosophers such as Herodotus, Tacitus, Plutargos,
Plato, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Julianus Apostata etc. Also theologists of the
Renaissance era such as Erasmus, Pieter Gillis,Thomas More, Machiavelli.
Writers such as Nietschze, Lord Byron, Ernst Jünger, Ernest Claes I find
inspiring as well. Modern historical novelists such as Steven Pressfield, Ian
Pears, Umberto Eco, Gore Vidal, Steven Saylor, Joris Tulkens know how to revive
past times in an excellent way. The list is endless. As I speak I hear my
library calling my name. It’s an addiction my friend…I often find myself alone
in this passion, people often say I don’t live this modern age enough, perhaps
they are right but I always had this passion for anything historical even
before I could read.
10. As I’ve noticed
you are an admirer of movies too. Are you not angry when do you see in many
so-called historical films a lot of non-sensical things? (as unsuitable
clothes, weapons, dates etc.). Could You please name 5 of your favorite movies?
Yes, many Hollywood productions annoy me,
especially when they are presented as historical correct and are too far away
from historical truth. I realize the masses don’t care for “detail” but
Hollywood has large budgets, it wouldn’t harm to at least take in consideration
correct dates, the right historical backgrounds, clothes, architecture etc…I
saw a “historical” film recently, set in medieval times. Some of the background
figures were dressed up and painted like Celts, some of the extras were
shouting curses in Polish language while it were supposed to be English soldiers. In another movie Romans
enter the lands of current Scotland and one sees a lady dressed in medieval
clothing as if she’s a character from “Braveheart”! Things like this disturb
me. As if historical correctness is sacrificed to feed the cliché views of the
masses. I still watch and enjoy some of the so called historical films to an
extent but there are always those disturbing “details”. Remember how in
“Kingdom of Heaven” Saladin puts the cross right on the table as a sign of
respect after he has won the war? In reality he had a supposed piece of the
holy cross dragged through the streets of Jerusalem for the crowds to desecrate
the symbol. Why is history re-written I often wonder? Most cinema viewers will
take the misinformation for reality. I think I expect more than just
entertainment and that is my “curse”. Productions I did enjoy were the series
“Rome” and “The Borgias”. I know there are historical mistakes and liberties
taken but the “vibes” of the series are correct with an eye for the culture, religion
and architecture of the eras portrayed. Movies in other genres I love are “M”,
“The Third Man”, “The Name of the Rose”, “Picnic at Hanging Rock”, “The
Bunker”, “Exorcist”, “The Shining”, “The Birds”, “Citizen Kane”, “Nosferatu”,
“Dog Soldiers” to name a few…
11. Could you tell us about your nice Flemish land in short? What
places/museums do you recommend to visit to the readers? Which
painters/sculptors do you like mostly?
Flanders is the North, Flemish (Dutch)
speaking part of current Belgium. There are many historical locations to visit.
Brugge (Bruges) is a nice place to start. I recall American tourists who asked
what time the theme park would be closed, they believed the city was a medieval
museum J But
also Ghent and Antwerp or Leuven are nice places to visit. Even my hometown
Diest is as it already was a settlement in prehistoric times. There are many
medieval buildings and remains here. Those interested in ancient history should
visit Tongeren, it was a big Roman settlement in ancient times and the
Gallo-Roman museum is quite interesting. Flemish painters I like are Pieter
Breughel, Rubens, Adriaen Brouwer, Teniers…Some Belgian surrealists were not
bad either like Delvaux, Magritte.
12. Introduce please
the Flemish culinary art: which foods and drinks are your recommendations?
Typical are the fries and mussels. We
consume large amounts haha. Also typical are “Witloof” and Brussels Sprouts.
And of course we have an enormous beer culture, almost every village has its
own types, brands and recipes of beer dating back to medieval times. I do like
the abbey beers brewed by monks since the middle-ages. Some of our beers carry
interesting names such as Duvel, Lucifer, Satan etc
13. What do you think
about such bands as Blasphemy, Beherit, Darkthrone, Mutilator, Vulcano, Rotting
Christ, Necromantia, Varathron, Salem? What kind of music do you listen to
nowadays generally? Are you into such stuff nowadays?
Great bands. Most I know personally due
to the intense merchandise trading/letters exchange and shared underground
concerts in the early 90’s. I still listen to the same music I always listened,
from classical music to noise, when the music is able to touch a string inside
of me I am interested. Be it Wagner or Beherit, Triarii or Ennio Morricone…
14. You also played two
shows in Romania with Necrodeath. What do you remember about our country?
We toured Romania and played smaller towns as
well apart from these 2 dates you mentioned. I met many great people at our
shows and I really enjoyed the epic landscapes while travelling through the
country. I remember playing a small village and everyone turned up, even people
who were not into Metal. Our music has Folk parts and the locals started a
group dance so I jumped from the stage and joined in. Nice memories. Highlight for me were the historical locations we visited,
castles linked to the history of Vlad Tepes and such. It felt like wandering
around on a perfect filmset: full moon, Carpathian mountains and forests, wild
rivers and castles in a gloomy architecture style. One can understand the
vampire myths when being there, very gloomy and full of atmosphere.
15. Dank je wel!
Create, please for the readers of Sadistik Witchfukk a fake history by Gunther
and send a message to the fans of Ancient Rites from our land.
Graag gedaan J A fake history? Ok ;-) Vlad
Tepes was feared by his servants. One day he had enjoyed a nice meal but was
annoyed by the meat stuck between his teeth. He ordered “tooth picks as sharp one
could impale Ottoman invaders”. His servant was hard of hearing, took it
literally and the next morning Vlad saw a field of defeated Ottoman armies
impaled on huge tooth picks! “Not what I asked for but I can live with this” he
said and impaled the servant too ;-) Ok, enough nonsense. Thanks to all who
supported our work in your beautiful ancient land. Ancient Rites Troopers Never
Surrender!
Ancient rites official: http://www.facebook.com/ancientrites
Additional fake story: "Once
upon a time, when owls still could speak, a poor simple man named
George went to consult a powerful witch who lived in the Hungarian
forest. Rumour had it she was related to Countess Bathory. "I feel
miserable" he explained to her. "I have a lot of work but can't
concentrate when I have several jobs to do. And I'm always ripped off by
my customers, never have the heart to
bargain hard. My wife dominates me and her mood changes drive me even
more crazy. Don't you have an elixir that can help me with these
matters?" The Witch named Pruprunella (for no reason) made poor George
drink a mysterious elixir which contained unknown things and lots of
chocolate. George felt a certain change. Then he broke into a panic as
he was bleeding! "No worries Love" Pruprunella said "That's only your
period. Want to join our Witches Coven, Georgette?"
INTERVIEW DONE BY GEORGIUS AND NECROTROOPER
