Ed Mowery (Tiwanaku)

 Interview with Ed Mowery (Tiwanaku)

Hail Ed, you are welcome to my humble blog Archangel’s Lantern. Tell the readers in brief the beginnings of Tiwanaku and introduce your bandmates please.

- Thank you for having me in Archangel's Lantern man. We appreciate it. I started Tiwanaku in 2003. I could see the writing on the wall. Nocturnus was on its way to disbanding again. The sale exact arguments were going on between us. I wanted to tour. They didn't. So I quit. I started thinking of a new band name and looking for new people to work with when I noticed what was going on in Nocturnus. It took me a few months and after reading about it in books and seeing the native spelling of Tiwanaku. Tiahuanaco is one spelling that is used mostly but Tiwanaku is the native spelling and looks much cooler and is more symmetrical. Tiwanaku makes for one hell of an awesome logo! Our Klingon Bat'leth logo by Christophe Szpajdel and Nino Mejia is our latest logo. I read it as Tiahuanaco in many places before. As soon as I saw the name Tiwanaku on paper I knew that was the name I was looking for. I wanted a one word name that had never been used in metal before. Tiwanaku is a magical mystical place with a lot of mysterious history, statues, megaliths, a pyramid, Sungate, Moongate, and more. There is a stone wall of faces that depicts humans from all over the planet and grey aliens. Its in Bolivia near La Paz just a quarter mile away from the mysterious megaliths of Puma Punku, Bolivia on the Altiplano. Puma Punku was the place space vessels would land and Tiwanaku was the place they celebrated together. The band is a group of guys that were meant to come together to make Earth Base One. I have had a lot of people come and go but now the guys I have are a solid group and all as hungry as I am and believe in the band as much as I do. All of us help with the different things a band needs. 3 of us live in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, our drummer in Orlando, Florida, and I am in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We are getting together in Pittsburgh in 7 days from today to finish writing the next album and work on our live set. We have some announcements coming after the holidays. We have versatile and very creative shred monster Sean "Hairy" Valentine on guitars, Wizard of the keyboard Ryan O'Neill on keyboards/orchestrations. The multi-instrumentalist and giant sound of Ian Spencer on Bass. Our newest member to the band is multi-genre playing bad ass hard hitting and kicking drummer Gabriel Lewandowski (xResurrection, xHellwitch, xEquinox) on drums. Gabriel and I were both close friends of Michael Estes who was trying to get Gabe and I in a jam room to see what would happen before he tragically passed away. Its better to be late than never at all. Michael may be gone but he is getting his wishes to come true and Gabe is now a permanent member Tiwanaku. Our first jam session we locked in on the first or second song. We played Giants Below Us off Earth Base One perfectly on the first run. I knew the first night playing with Gabe he was our new drummer. I think he did too. 

Ryan and Liam Hurka were the drummers on the album. Then they had to do their thing and gracefully bowed out of the band. Ryan has a business to run and it eats up all his time. Not enough time to do music too. We are all still friends. I ran into Gabriel Lewandowski   online just a couple days after they left. We got to messaging and that turned into talking on the phone that turned into me flying to Florida to hang out and play music with him. Gabe and I had a mutual friend, amazing guitarist Michael Estes (RIP). Gabe is an amazing drummer. Not taking anything away from Ryan and Liam Hurka on the album. They did their jobs awesome and we appreciate everything they did.  I can't wait to get together with the band next month. Once I come home from this trip I'll start making guitar and click tracks for Gabe to record his drums with once we all decide the arrangements and riffs are all in the right place.

Our first demo line up. 

Wade Black, Rick Renstrom, Ed Mowery, Richard Christy

Tiwanaku is:

Ed Mowery (xNocturnus) - Vocals/Guitar

Sean Valentine (Plague Rider) -Guitars

Ryan O'Neill- Keyboards/Orchestrations

Ian Spencer (Plague Rider) - Bass

Gabriel Lewandowski (xResurrection, xHellwitch, xEquinox) - Drums

Ryan Hurka - Drums on the album

Liam Hurka - Drums on Ghost War

Guests:

Michael Estes (RIP) (xTiwanaku, xBurning Inside) Guitar Leads and wrote parts of Today in Battle

Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse) - Bass, Today in Battle

Daniel Heiman (Warrior Path, xLost Horizon)-Vocalist Interdimensional

Steven Martinez-Lead Guitar Interdimensional

Tiwanaku unleashed a fantastic debut LP, namely “Earth Base One” on the 4th of November. How went the recording process? Where did you recorded all the tracks? Who was the producer?

- Thank you! We really appreciate that man! We are now booking tours and appearances for 2023 and 2024. The recording process was an interesting one. Ryan, Liam, and I went into Cerebral Productions in Pittsburgh. Shane Mayer is a great engineer and has an absolutely amazing ear. We did the drums for the album in two days’ time. Then we used those tracks and my scratch guitars to record the keyboards which I recorded with Ryan O'Neill in his home studio. The rhythm guitars and my Vocals were recorded in my home studio. Alex recorded his bass parts in his home studio and Daniel recorded his vocals in his studio in Stockholm Sweden. We had our ups and downs during the recording process but the most important part for me is that we prevailed and got through it all to put this album out. 

I like a lot art of Spanish painter, Juanjo Castellano, who created for Tiwanaku an awesome artwork, which totally fits to your music. How did you meet him? Do you plan to work with him again?

- Our label contacted Juanjo to do an album cover for us. I gave him a short description, some background, and photos of Tiwanaku and he accepted the job then grabbed the ball and ran with it. It came out so killer and blew my expectations out of the water. Look for the hidden things in the art. They're in there. I would love to work with Juanjo again. He is a professional and even helped promote Earth Base One quite a bit on social media alongside us. He didn't have to do that. He is a very nice guy and a gentleman. I do have a couple artists in mind for album 2 and he is in the mix of 3 artists. I can say we'll lean in his direction when the time comes which will be soon. It would be amazing to have him paint the concept I already have for album 2.

Would you be so kind to share your thoughts about “Earth base One” track by track? 

- Visitor from Titan - This is a true story. It happened right here in Northern New Mexico. Michael Estes (RIP)was in town working with me on Tiwanaku. I had a gig one night filling in for my friends’ band End to End in Albuquerque New Mexico. It was opening for Goatwhore. Fun show! At the time I lived in the Northern New Mexico mountains so Mike and I loaded up my truck after the show and headed home. This was during the Perseid Meteor shower. The sky was lighting up night like day off and on the whole way back. After driving through Jemez Pueblo, we were near Virgin Mesa near Jemez Springs when we started seeing a light down the road off and on. I figured it was a light on a house or barn until we drove around a bend and it was hovering in the middle of the road. I had to stop the truck right in front of it. Then it’s kind of erupted and then doubled in size. I asked Mike three times "Are you seeing this?" About that time lightning bolts shot out from under the ball of light and then it shot up the mountain at lightning speed and disappeared. I then started asking Mike again if he saw it and I looked at him. He was in complete shock with his eyes and mouth wide open in surprise. He finally snapped out of it when I started driving again and said "Bro, what the fuck was that?" The next week the Jemez Springs newspaper reported UFO sittings at Virgin Mesa the same exact time we were driving through. We didn’t start telling people about it until after it was in the newspaper. So, we weren't the only ones who saw it. I think what we saw was a being made of electricity. Later I read if there was life on Saturn's moon Titan it would be electricity based. Right then was when I named the song.

Ghost War is about a dream I had about a war between human beings and our reality and ghosts and the paranormal reality. Something the human military was experimenting on was screwing with their reality so they found a way to start attacking humans from the paranormal side. Killing us just to join their side of reality. Gaining fighters as they kill humans, they won the war.

Swarm is about a flock of birds that mishap upon some tainted meat. They eat it and transform into a tornado of flesh-eating metal machines. 

Nightmare Hall is a song about the story of Phil Schneider's adventure and escape from an underground military base in Northern New Mexico. Nightmare Hall is a level in the base where animals, humans, and aliens are experimented on. I've studied this base, have friends that live in the town above it. I agree. It’s a real thing. I think there are underground bases all over the planet. I've read about and now been told by Bolivian descendants of Tiwanaku that there is an underwater government/alien base next to Tiwanaku in Lake a Titicaca.

Closed Minds is about the wool that has been pulled over the human race's eyes by who is truly running our planet. Our leaders are all the puppets of the true leaders of the world.

Giants Below Us has two meanings. One is about how Giants used to walk this planet. I'm not talking dinosaurs. I'm talking Giant bipedal beings. The evidence has been found of giant human-like bones and giant graves. I have a theory that Bigfoot and these Giants are related and could be the same thing. For me. Bigfoot coming from inside our planet is much more realistic to me than them acting as interdimensional beings coming from another reality like some rumors say. But I am not 100% convinced on anything. 

Vision Abducted is about when I had a total knee replacement surgery in 2009. While I was under I either had a vivid dream or a vision. I was walking around Tiwanaku Bolivia itself. I looked at the statues, the moon gate, and the sun gate. Then I found an opening behind some rocks. The door opened and there was a large stairwell. What I found is in the song.

Today in Battle was written by myself and Michael Estes. It is about the Mayan Apocalypse and different Mayan blood rituals.

Falling Stars is the piano piece that Ryan O'Neill wrote. It was something he used for warm ups some years ago. Him and I were roommates when I lived in Pittsburgh. I used to hear him get up for work. Right before leaving he would get on the piano and play those parts When I asked him if he had a piano type thing that could show how damn good, he is, he sent me this. As soon as I heard it I recognized it and said hell yea this is it! I suggested Falling Stars for the name and he agreed. 

Interdimensional is meant to be a completely different animal as anyone who hears it can tell. My best friend Brian (Progcop) Goldsmith introduced Daniel Heiman and I through an email.  We started talking about doing something together. Brian ended up passed away from complications due to diabetes in 2019 right before I was to go into major neck surgery. When I got out, I wrote and explained what happened to Brian to Daniel. That was when we decided 100% to do this song together and when I decided the song had to go on this album. Brian deserves it. I wrote every single note, lyric, and vocal throw to the song. I did it while I was grieving for my best friend. It chokes me up to write and talk about it over 3 years later. Brian believed in me when everyone had written me off to neck and back surgery. Interdimensional and the whole album is dedicated to his memory. I'll see you Interdimensional Brother!! 🤘🏼👽🤘🏼

Tiwanaku Sungate with alien ship/drone hovering above

Are you working with new material currently? 

- Absolutely! I am always writing down lyrical ideas and writing guitar riffs. I have a riff bank I put all my new material into. It’s a protools folder on my hard drive. I have about 5-6 songs worth of riffs and I know Hairy, Ryan, and Gabe have song ideas too. We are getting together in January to work on our set and get the songs together for the next album. We'll start recording sometime next year depending on when our live appearances are confirmed.

What should we know about your live performances in the near future? (I really hope to see and meet you live in Hungary or Slovakia)

- Fuck yes man. We are in talks for some United States, European, and South American appearances in 2023. It will be great to meet you in person man. 🤘🏼👽🤘🏼

("In January 2019 I had the same surgery as my neck from L4-S1 and I have electronics in my lower spine. This is part of why I am able to get on stage again."- Ed Mowery)

When did you start to play the guitar, bass, keyboards and vocalizing? Who inspired you back in the day? What are your favourite musicians? 

- I started on guitar when I was 14 years old. A friend of mine moved into town and he played electric and acoustic. I hung out with him a few times and I wanted to start learning guitar myself after he let me borrow a guitar. I was fuckin hooked! I fell in love with playing metal music very early on. It took a lot of hard work to be able to play like I do today. I was no natural. Haha. When I was 19, I joined Fallen Idols on Guitar. We started searching for a drummer and bassist. We got tired of being offered gigs and not being able to do them. We found a drummer pretty quickly but finding a bassist to play our stuff back then was tough. So that's why I moved to bass for a few years. So, we could move on as a band and start playing clubs. I was 19 and was only allowed into clubs if it was all ages. If it was 21+ I was sometimes allowed to play with the band only and then was escorted out by security right after our last note. I started doing backup vocals in Fallen Idols. We were a trio. I started playing the keyboard while I was in Nocturnus still. When Louis Panzer quit the Nocturnus I went out and bought a Korg Triton 76 key. Fell in love with that instrument too. Our keyboard player Ryan O'Neill is much better than I am at execution so I leave most of that to him now. He is a monster on the keys. When we started talking about putting Nocturnus together for Ethereal Tomb and I threw my name in the hat for vocalist. They went with me. That was my first time as Lead vocalist for any band, ever. Back in the day I was mostly inspired by Ronnie James Dio, Judas Priest, Metallica, and Megadeth. My favorite musicians right now would be a variety. Ronnie James DIO, James Hetfield, Dave Mustaine, Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Mike Patton & Faith No More, Jaco Pastorius, Beethoven, Paganini, Michael Keene, and Bill Steer of Carcass off the top of my head. 

("On my way home from C3-T1 fusions and disc replacements. This surgery saved my guitar playing and having normal use of my arms and hands" - Ed Mowery)

How do you describe your past activity in following bands as Fallen Idols, Nocturnus and Leash Law? 

- I joined Fallen Idols as guitarist. I moved to bass and backup vocals because we wanted to play gigs and we REFUSED to be unprofessional and go out without a bassist. We got tired of looking for one and I picked it up one night just to see how we would sound and we sounded AMAZING and we were a 3 piece. When I joined Nocturnus as bassist just 3 months before the European Thresholds tour. We broke up after we recorded the Possess the Priest/Mummified EP in 1993. Mummified was the first song that I had a hand in writing. Fast forward to 1999 we regrouped Mike Davis, Sean McNenney, Lou Panzer, and myself. That was when I stepped up and said "I'll sing!" I had to prove myself in rehearsals first then the studio and I did. Finding out I was a lead singer really helped me finish blooming as a musician. I love it. 

Ed, 22 years old on tour playing bass in Nocturnus with Confessor as direct support 1992 European Thresholds Tour

"Fallen Idols 19 years old. Seattle Washington. 1989. I played bass and we were doing dual vocals before we disbanded. Ed Mowery (bass, vocals), Scott Sanders (drums RIP), Willem Reeders (Lead Vocals, Guitar)" -Ed Mowery

What is your opinion about Brazilian Death metal band LoneHunter? Which hordes from the United States could you recommend us? 

- Lonehunter are awesome! I am friends with Juliano Bonacini who played keys with the band.  I have their latest release on cd. Great fucking band man! From the States? They recently signed to Unique Leader Records. I played some shows with them while filling in for a friend’s band. I really liked the band. Embryonic Devourment.

Are you having some special hobbies? What are your most preferred books and movies? 

- Most of my special hobbies are centered around the band Tiwanaku. I have love for Ancient Archaeology, Ufology, Ancient Aliens, and the Paranormal, Science Fiction, and Science Fact. Anything that causes mystery in our world, and beyond, fascinates me. When I was younger, I loved playing Football/Soccer, rock climbing, and was a dart and extreme jumper on snow skis. Adrenaline Junkie kind of stuff. I stopped doing it all after my first knee surgery. That was right about the same time I started playing guitar.

Name us your eternal favourite top 10 albums, please.

- 10 is too short of a list. How about 20 instead brother? Haha!

Metallica: Ride the Lightning

Metallica: Master of Puppets

Black Sabbath: Mob Rules

Black Sabbath: Heaven & Hell

Judas Priest: Screaming for Vengeance

Judas Priest: Defenders of the Faith

Megadeth: Rust in Peace

Megadeth: Countdown to Extinction

The Faceless: Autotheism

Pink Floyd: Meddle

Yngwie Malmsteen: Rising Force

Dimmu Borgir: Spiritual Black Dimensions

Dimmu Borgir: Puritania

Deicide: Legion

Death: Individual Thought Patterns

Carcass: Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious

Carcass: Symphonies of Sickness

Carcass: Heartwork

Emperor: Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk

Faith No More: Angeldust

Primus: Sailing the Seas of Cheese

Jason Becker: Perpetual Burn

That’s more than 20. I know there's many more. 🤘🏼👽🤘🏼

Thank you very much Ed, wish you and Tiwanaku all the best. Send your message to the readers to complete the interview. 

- The band is planning our live appearances for 2023 and 2024. Right now, we have a large concert in Florida we are being considered for. Two European tours and a South American tour. Hopefully they'll be confirming us for all of them. We are looking forward to bringing Earth Base One to as many corners of the planet we can. We are ready to see all your metal faces, throw horns, and fist bump you all! Thank you for having me in Archangel's Lantern, Georgius. 🤘🏼👽🤘🏼 

Important links: 

tiwanakumetal.com/?fbclid=IwAR1zGB4SqgS6zgGjMxEwRGIYI3Om6jrZmBHXQeEvNj--jwyXuVnrCEAvwpE

facebook.com/tiwanakumetal

facebook.com/redkenyi666 

youtube.com/@tiwanakumetal7469 

Olly Zubor (HammerWorld, ex-Cerebral Haemorrhage)

  Interview with Olly Zubor 

(HammerWorld, 

ex-Cerebral Haemorrhage)

Hail my good old Hungarian friend Olly! Castrum videos you made and edited, are celebrating 25th anniversary this year and we are still so honoured to you! How do you remember your clip-making process for those old tracks? 

- Hello Georgius! Wow, 25 years already? Like it was yesterday. I remember you asked me to make a music video for one of the songs of the Pleasure in the Deeds of Horror demo, and for that I also received a complete concert recording from Ungvár/Uzhhorod. Then I got so excited that I made a video for both songs and the intro of the demo. It was great fun! And it was also my first music video cut after the video I made for my own band, Cerebral Haemorrhage. By the way, may I ask where you first saw the Castrum videos? And what was your opinion of them 25 years ago?

(I suppose in 1997, when Cornelius of Castrum brought VHS tape with your awesome stuff you created for us  and I/we are still so grateful for your amazing job! -G//)

Are you playing the guitar nowadays? Are you planning to make some special stuff for your old band Cerebral Haemorrhages’ honor? 

- I haven't held an instrument in my hands for years. I have no specific plans for Cerebral Haemorrhage at the moment. However, two of our old musicians, the bassist Brutal and the drummer Pitty, used to play together recently. True, their musical style is far from what we played around 1995. Still, I wouldn't mind if they made new songs under the name Cerebral Haemorrhage. But I prefer to stay on the "other side". I mean, I don't play in bands, I write about people who play in bands. 

It’s a bit sad question… Unfortunately, László Lénárd of Hungarian Metal Hammer/HammerWorld passed away this year…May he Rest in Peace…Share your memories about him please…

- This is very difficult for me to talk about... Laci was my mentor. I am a music journalist thanks to him. He was like my second father to me. At the time of his death, I thought very seriously about it would be worth and I should continue doing journalism? But then I decided that I had to keep doing it for his memory. Because that's what he wants too... 

What are your latest reviews in HammerWorld and what are your favourite albums this year so far? 

- I wrote about the new records of Cabal, Lacuna Coil, Lacrimas Profundere, Architects, Souldrainer, We Came as Romans and Therion. I don't want to reveal my favorite albums of this year yet, as I will soon make a top 20 list that will be published in HammerWorld magazine. However, I may surprise you, but I really like Rakshak by the Indian band Bloodywood. 

My old friend Cornelius of Castrum/Encomium joined the forces of our local Grindcore/Goregrind horde Hulla in 2021 as a guitarist. What is your opinion about their releases? 

-  I really like the goregrind style. That's why I was happy that Cornelius and Hulla are also making EPs in this genre. Moreover, at a very high standard. Considering the difficult situation in which the ‘Recovery’ EP was born, it contains great songs. I trust that the situation in your country will be settled soon, and then the future studio recordings of Hulla will take place in ideal conditions. 

Another question about my old friend’s activity. Did you listen to Cornelius’ ambient tracks? For me all of them sound awesome. 

-  I think Cornelius is Dan Swanö of Ungvár/Uzhhorod, ha-ha! He creates great songs in any style. Speaking of the video from 25 years ago, 'Tears of Eternal Expiation' was also an excellent intro. So, Cornelius already proved in the 90s that he has a very diverse musical knowledge. In recent years, he has gained even more musical experience. I hope I can make a song with him one day, ha-ha! It could even be rap or pop from me, ha-ha! What's more, if Cornelius composes a joint song for us for the Eurovision Song Contest, I'll be happy to sing it too, ha-ha! But on a serious note, I salute my friend Cornelius, who I respect a lot for his persistence and his work for metal music!

Perhaps you know, that Archangel’s Lantern is eternally dedicated to the memory of Jon Andreas Nödtveidt and Lars-Göran Petrov amongst others…Name us your most preferred albums and tracks by their heritage. Did you see and meet them live? 

- This is also a difficult question... I loved LG Petrov's voice in every song. But if I can only say one record, it would be 'Wolverine Blues'. As for Jon Andreas, it's hard to choose between Dissection's classics ('The Somberlain', 'Storm of the Light's Bane'). Moreover, I also listened to Ophthalamia's record, ‘A Journey in Darkness’, a lot. I saw Lars-Göran in Hungary with Entombed, but I never saw Jon live.

You are living in Budapest. What do you recommend to the readers to visit in Budapest (interesting places) and to taste local foods and drinks?

- Unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer good restaurants in Budapest. Due to the current economic situation, many entertainment venues are closing down in our country as well. So, if I told you a good restaurant now, it might not be open tomorrow. So, let's come back to this question in a few months! 

What are your favourite books and movies? 

- That's an easy question. I love Stephen King's books. My favorite is 'Pet Sematary'. I also like the movie based on the book. Even my phone ringtone is the 'Pet Sematary' soundtrack. 

About Italian Juventus: What are most preferred your players back in the day and currently? 

- I felt in love with Juventus during the Michel Platini era. Then the attacking duo Vialli-Ravanelli became my favorite. Then came the others: Del Piero, Zidane, Nedved, Camoranesi. Today? No player can match the previous ones. But maybe Chiesa will lead the team back to where it belongs.

Nagyon szépen köszönöm/Thank you very much my dear friend Olly. If there's anything you would like to add in the end of this conversation, please feel free to do it.

- Dear Georgius, I thank you for the opportunity! Take care and do many more interesting interviews with interesting people and bands in the columns of Archangel’s Lantern! It's an honor to call you my friend! Wish you all a Very Happy New 2023 Year! 

Martin Missy and Carl-Gustav Karlsson (Protector)

 Interview with Martin Missy 

and Carl-Gustav Karlsson (Protector)

Questions compiled by Georgius, Paco (Spain)

 and Joanna (Poland/Germany)

Hail Martin and Carl-Gustav! We would like to congratulate you both with the release of 8th Protector LP, "Excessive Outburst of Depravity" (It’s just brilliant one, I’ve marked 10 in my Hungarian review on Kronos Mortus -G/). How went the whole process of composing it? 

C-G: Thank you! We are really amazed over the reaction of the album and very thankful that everyone likes it so much. The process of the composing is that Mathias a Mike and Martin have had some ideas and riffs Both Martin and Mathias have written lyrics also, then we have tried all ideas and song arrangements in our rehearsal space. You can say that we rehearse and create at the same time.

Martin, official release of "Excessive Outburst of Depravity" has happened 1st of July (the birthday of Michael Hasse (R.I.P.) and my humble person as well -G/). What are your favourite albums and tracks by heritage of Michael Hasse?  

- The first demo from 1986 is a great recording. It made me a fan of the band right away. Also, the whole Shedding of Skin album, which Michael and Olly recorded together, is great. 

Martin, you always write some historical lyrics. Where do you get inspiration from? Have you any favorite historical eras? Which historical books are you preferring most? 

- I get inspiration from movies, books, tv documentaries and the internet. I have no favourite historical eras; I'm interested in history overall. I'm especially interested in novels that have a historical background like "Im Westen nichts neues" and "Tuntematon Sotilas". 

Who were the guest musicians on your new album? 

MM: We had some background singers from other bands on this album. Ollie sings in Phidion, a band I was singing in 2003-2012. Ludde plays Bass and sings in Talion, another one of my old bands here in Stockholm. Shayan has played Bass and been singing in a band called Obscyria. Today he is a member of the Stockholm based band Putrid Vision. 

How were your live shows this year? Your experiences?  

C-G: I think all of the shows Stormchrusher festival and Gothoom open air and Chronical Moshers where very special this year, sins we have been looked down for two years.  it was fantastic to play live again. The audience and our fans were awesome to meet again :) 

MM: All five gigs we played this year were great. I am really happy that we finally were able to play these shows, that were all originally planned for 2020.

Are you planning to play next year in Spain? Where will be your next shows in 2023? 

MM:

- Spain is unfortunately too far away from Sweden, and because I don't fly, it will be very difficult for us to play in Espana. Our shows next year will be in Stockholm / Sweden in June, two shows in Germany in September and two shows in Poland in November. 

On the 21st of September Protector’s still awesome EP “Misanthropy” had its 35th anniversary. How do you remember the recording, Martin? Carl-Gustav, what is/are your favourite tracks of Misanthropy? 

C-G:

My favorite tracks are Misanthropy and Agoraphobia, but I love the whole EP.

MM:

- It was awesome, but also very nervous to be in the studio for the first time. In the beginning I couldn't get the voice quite right, but after a lot of screaming and shouting it all went well.

Martin we are so thankful for your kind dedication on the cover of the “Apocalyptic Chronicles” written by you, excellent book! Share please some thoughts about the Apocalyptic Chronicles. 

- It was a lot of work to put all the information together, but it was also a lot of fun. It was great to see how much the band had done and achieved through the years. I'm very grateful to all bandmembers who helped me put together the information from the period in the history of Protector when I wasn't a member of the band. 

Carl-Gustav, I saw a photo, you posted about your first tour with Grief Of Emerald accompanied by Bestial Mockery, Obtest, Skyforger and last but not least Hungarian Sear Bliss. Would you be so kind tell us about that tour more? 

- It was my first experience of being able to play outside of Sweden. I probably had too high hopes. I was very inexperienced and really didn't know very much.

The following dates were:

Oct 18, 2002, Germany  Hagalaz Club.  SAT - Oct 19, 2002  , Germany  Festung.  Oct 20, 2002 Arnhem, Holland Goudvishal .Oct 22, 2002 Ljublana, Slovenia  Metelkova Oct 28, 2002 Finland Helsinki Factory 

Unfortunately, the tour was not very well organized. We had a small bus where only 3 of the bands were allowed to come along, so poor Sear Bliss had to go in their own car. There was no toilet and our equipment went in a trailer. No sleeping places were booked on the road and the drivers were not too happy. When the organizer tried to fool us and them. And went to hostels where it always was some misunderstanding. 

There was a lot of partying on the bus and in the evenings after the gig. there was a lot going on all around. very fun but also very hard. Everyone on the bus was hiding in need of a pee, so we had to pee in bottles on the bus after the route was so badly planned. It was both funny and terrible when all the bottles went around in the bus, maybe Sear Bliss had a good time in their car anyway. A few times on the road I woke up in a panic and thought I was driving. and looked for the steering wheel. I had a period right then that gave everything. I was sober the whole tour, but in Finland I freaked out- The tour broke me after building up and down my own drum kit every night, no sleep. No compensation at all, my cymbals and drumheads where totally broken. So, Grief Of Emerald cancelled that gig and I really did party that night. I have a faint hunch that we played the gig anyway, but I'm not sure.

Nevertheless, this is one of the funniest things I've done and now in retrospect it was great fun even how miserable it was. We did a really good gigs and so did the other bands as well. Word spreader and there were more and more people at each gig.

Martin, which interesting places, local food and drink are your recommendations from Wolfsburg? And from Sweden? 

Carl-Gustav, what would you suggest to visit in Strömstad? Are there some local drinks? 

C-G:

- We have an area in Strömstad called Blomsholm that is one of Bohuslän's finest cultural heritage landscapes, with lots of remains from the Stone Age until medieval times. Blomsholm has ancient remains of national interest. For this reason, it may be the most exciting pre-historic site in Bohuslän. Strömstad is very close to the Norwegian border, so this is where you should really drive by first if you want to visit Norway. 

MM:

- When I was living in Wolfsburg (until 1995) there wasn't really so much to see in the city. It was a typical working-class town where half of the inhabitants worked at the VW factory. Today we have the Autostadt, which is interesting to visit, especially if you like cars. We have the Phaeno and the Badeland, which is great for Families. And of course, you should also go and see a match of Wolfsburgs soccer teams when you are in town. The men’s team play in the Volkswagen Arena, and the ladies in the AOK Arena. And the castle from the 13th century, which gave the city its name, is also nice. 

There actually exists no special food or dish in Wolfsburg. Probably because the city is so young (founded in 1938). But of course, sausages and potatoes always work out fine. 🙂 

In Sweden there are a lot of beautiful places. My favourites are Småland and Stockholm. 

my Protector signatures from Poland, which ones brought me Andrey Misanthrope-G/

Danke Schön Martin, Tack så mycket Carl-Gustav for the interview, we wish you both all the best with Protector and in your private life. Hope to see you live very soon! Send your messages to the readers please.

C-G:Thank you so much for the support. If you have missed listen to our new album Excessive Outburst of Depravity you will find it on all digital platforms. Stay Metal.   

MM: Thank you for doing this Interview with us! A big Thank you to all our fans for supporting the band over the years! Stay Metal everyone! 🤘 

 

facebook.com/Protector.666not777 

 

Ronnie Ripper Olson

 Interview with Ronnie Ripper Olson (Turbocharged) 

Originally published in Kronos Mortus  

in English and Hungarian languages 

Hail Ronnie you are very hellcome to Hungarian Kronos Mortus! First, let me congratulate you for new killer old school material of Turbocharged called “Alpha Beast, Omega God”. (I’ve marked 10 in my Hungarian review; it will be one of my favourite releases of this year) How are the responses from underground media and fans so far?

- Thanks, it seems like the reviews this time are quite good and the mere number of reviews is a fresh breeze in our camp! Seems like people have noticed us once and for all and the coverage is by far better than we ever had for any previous release. As a band you always release the best album so far, every time the same feeling, but this time I think we managed to put together something special and it seems like the world has noticed it too.

Where did you record the new LP? How went the recording process? Who was the producer?

- We recorded it in the studio next to our rehearsal place, it’s basically another rehearsal place with studio gear just like ours but we wanted to have another set of ears to engineer the sound and to let go of the producer seat for once and hired Johan Sundström for the job. His studio is called DECIBEL HELL and it’s perfect for our needs, no fancy shit or arguments about doing this or that, he just nails what we want and we take over from there. I mixed and mastered the album at home though so it’s kinda collaboration in the end.

I know, it is always a hard thing but would you be so kind to talk about each track of the “Alpha Beast, Omega God”?

Piss Stigmata: D-beat mayhem with the balls of a rhino, perfect opening track.

Irreligious: Kind of our trademark sound, it’s D-beat again with some thrashy riffs and spicy lyrics.

Slave Rhetoric: Heavier track with again D-beat as basis, this one smells a bit like Bolt Thrower I reckon but it breaks out in punk as usual.

Phantom Cataclysm: This one is a bit out there, it’s blasts with some more blackish riffs and a deeper tone of lyrics, it’s for the fancypants listeners.

Alpha Beast, Omega God: If The Ramones went on a grave robbing spree, this is it.

Chaos Chronicles: This is punk, it’s metal and it’s war against radioplay.

Sanguinary: A hint of blasts and pounding backbeat percs, this is perhaps more death metal than most of the album.

Hunger of the Wendigo: Thrashy stuff, this one is quite typically our sound and could be a good first step for any new listener to know what we sound like.

Land of Pest: Fast death metal, this one is our contribution to the pandemic reflection and I wrote the lyrics years before it happened.

Hyper Blasphemous Shitstorm: This is the Motörhead homage of the album; no album is complete without a nod towards Lemmy & Co!

Profane Vortex: For some reason this kinda pulls towards German thrash in my opinion, it’s fast and contains a lot of words.

Priests in Darkness: Another nod, this time towards Celtic Frost/Hellhammer in the beginning and then maybe towards Merciless or Massacra.

Your album was released via Danish label, Emanzipation Productions. How did happen your cooperation with them?

- It was actually Perra Karlsson (Nominon, Benediction, Destroyer 666, etc, etc, etc) who told the label about us and they offered us a deal and we took it. It’s just dumb luck and the help from a friend, no big story behind it at all really. It was good timing and we needed a direction for the next step and here we are now.

Turbocharged celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2020. You made an awesome documentary called “7300 Days in Sodom” with a lot of brilliant covers of your favourite bands. I enjoyed a lot your stories and of corpse all the covers as well, especially Nihilist/Entombed, Impaled Nazarene and The Exploited ones. Tell us some interesting info about that monster project.

- The whole cover thing was a live set that was killed off there and then by Covid, the festival was cancelled as we picked the last two songs. We decided to record the stuff in the rehearsal place and when we realized it was too good to just tuck away on a harddrive at home we also decided to make all those videos. The documentary was an old idea that just tagged along with the cover set and it was a few hectic months to finish it all. We shot everything on Wednesdays and Sundays and in between the shoots I tried to edit a finish each video before then next one was shot. I don’t know any other band that pulled shit like this off and now I know why, it takes a complete idiot to pull it off and lucky for us we had ME.

If I mentioned your fantastic cover of Nihilist/Entombed, “Supposed to Rot”: Did you play together with Entombed with Lars-Göran (R.I.P.) or other bands including him back in the day? If yes, share us your memories.

- We never played with any of his bands but I do remember him making donuts with a rental car outside a gig in Strömstad, he had been drinking and had no driving license. The gig was actually also Dissection’s first gig ever.

I’ve almost forgotten to ask: are there any plans to made official videos for your new LP?

- I’m actually editing the first one as I write these answers and the plan is to make a few more along the way for this album.

I’ve watched a great video about Turbocharged live show you played in September this year in Craiova/Romania. What are your experiences? When and where will be your next shows?

– Yes, we headed to Romania once again and truly had a blast on stage and off! That was until we tried to get home and were greeted with a cancelled flight, it took us 24 extra hours to get home but we make it. We also played a gig in Denmark some weeks ago and we will return to Denmark in May next year for another noisy encounter. We don’t really chase gigs, they come to us and we’ll see what happens in the backdraft of this album.

Let’s talk a little bit about Ronnie Rippers Private War. When you will be playing live with your Private War?

- We did play three gigs with Private War with only Danish musicians and me on vocals. We were going to do one gig only but for some reason it turned into three shows. There are no plans to ever play live again though, it was never meant for stage performances.

You are from Forshaga, Sweden. Which interesting places are your recommendations to visit it in your area? Are there any local foods and drinks you’d recommend to taste for us?

- There is nothing to recommend here actually, it’s a sleepy part of the country and the charm is that nothing ever happens here. We have no local cuisine or drinks; it’s just the local pizza place and a lot of weird people.

Tack så mycket Ronnie, it was a pleasure to talk to you. My/our best wishes to Turbocharged and I really hope to meet you live in the very near future in our area. Please send a message to your Hungarian fans and the readers of Kronos Mortus to complete this conversation.

- Thanks yourself, it’s always a pleasure to be seen and heard in public! We hope to return to Hungary one day but as of now we don’t know where our paths will take us, anything is yet to be done! If you didn’t check out our new album you should give it a few spins, it doesn’t suck that much! Keep it brutal, folks!

Original source: 

kronosmortusnews.com/2022/11/11/turbocharged-interview/?fbclid=IwAR05Tgyy_UGNrVW0vf2agKvrN8LKljdH4q46ZVLy1_bWcuiRQFfTylFIuoU

kronosmortus.com/interjuk/turbocharged-interju/?fbclid=IwAR0BYo47UYMVyCukkkPvoRhAMvypk2DW5trplJGxibrO_byo7IXlpeTttBk

Important links: 

facebook.com/turbochargedswe/ 

youtube.com/channel/UCHfKE9PYgfFBQ6ocdtu03Ug

facebook.com/ronnierippersprivatewar/

facebook.com/edgedcircleproductions

Hednar (The Generals)

 Interview with Hednar (The Generals)

Hail The Generals! In February 2021 you released via Swedish Black Zombie Records your 3rd full-length, called “To Hell”, an excellent album what I’ve marked 10 in my Hungarian review in Kronos Mortus e-zine. What are the reactions to LP from the media and fans so far? 

- Well, we’ve had very good responses from both media and fans actually. The re-views have stretched from great to superb. Mostly 8, 9 or 10-s, so that is extremely fun of course, but what really matters is what the fans think and that was also really overwhelming. So over all “To Hell” has been a really successful release and the label “Black Zombie Records” did an awesome job. 

How went your common work with Eternal Master Tomas Skogsberg at Sunlight Studio? By the way, what are your favourite albums from those what produced Tomas through the years? 

- That is always a smooth ride. Tomas is really easy to work with. We’ve done 2 productions with him at Sunlight and it is always really fun and easy going. It is really hard to pick just a few because there are so many great, but of course all his work with Entombed. “To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth” is my personal favorite Entombed album. Also Dismember obviously. We all love “Death Metal” and all the other albums. Other that I’d say “Super Shitty” and “Into the Grave”.

Would you be so kind to talk more about The Generals lyrics? Who is the main song- and lyric writer in the band? Are you working with new tracks to the next album currently? 

- I am the main lyric writer (Hednar). I have written all lyrics except one. Martin “Metal” Svensson has written “Evil Transcends” from the second album “Blood For Blood”. Other than that, it’s all me, with the exception for a phrase here and there perhaps. I can write about everything. We don’t have a theme that we must follow or anything like that. It can be about everything from fictional zombie stories to more serious topics like equality or government formations for example. 

The music is mainly written by Rickard Fäldt (guitar) and Martin Svensson (drums). Yes, we are currently working on new material. 

On “To Hell” have been some guest musicians, namely Lawrence Mackrory, Christian Fredriksson and Kristian Karlsson, if I’m correct. What should we know about this cooperation? Who created the cover artwork and what symbolizes it? 

- Well, not really. Lawrence did the mix and he is also the voice talking in “Evolution of the Flesh”. Other than that he hasn’t done any playing or singing. Christian and Kristian did some additional screaming but nothing else. Christian “CF” Fredriksson was sub for Marius at our latest EU tour though. The cover art was painted by William Persson Öberg from Obscenum Art and it symbolizes how small mankind really is and how little we matter if we think about what is really important. 

If I’m not mistaken, The Generals celebrate 20th anniversary of the horde this year. Are you planning to release some special stuff to celebrate your anniversary? 

- Yes, we are actually celebrating 20 years as a band. Time flies. We are planning to do a special live show on December 10th in our home town, Karlstad. What more is planned for that night is a secret, but I can tell you as much as there will be special merch and special surprises. 

What should we know about live activity of your band? (I really hope that in the near future you could play near my area, in Slovakia or/and Hungary.) 

- Well, we have a few shows booked but only in Sweden so far. We have nothing in sight for rest of Europe as of today but we have some ideas that we are going to discuss with our booking agents. I don’t know about Slovakia or Hungary though, we have never played those countries so we have no natural connections there. But who knows, never say never. 

The line-up of The Generals since 2002 remains unchanged, what is awesome and very rare. How do you remember the beginnings of the band? What was your most memorable live show or another unforgettable event? Are you have any special hobbies apart from the music? 

- That is not true actually. We were the same members for 16 years. In 2018 founding member Dick Johansson (Guitar) left the band and in 2019 Marius Tömte filled that space by becoming a full time member of the band. 

We started out as a side project (we all had other bands at the time) but we quickly began to do live shows even before we had released anything so it came natural for us to continue with the band. Back then we played more action rock and stoner metal influenced music but evolved towards metal and by the time we released our debut (Stand Up Straight) we were labeled “Death n Roll”. Now a days we are labeling ourselves as a Swedish Death metal band but we surely have that rock n roll nerve always present. 

It’s very hard to pick one specific shows (we have done around 400 shows), but the whole tour we did with ANNIHILATOR back in 2013 was really awesome. 5 weeks of sold-out venues and sharing the night-liner with Jeff Waters and the other guys was just epic. 

Other hobbies.. 3 of us drive Harley Davidson. Martin (drums) spends a lot of time on his Dodge Charger. Marius is a tattoo artist as a profession so he spends a lot of time painting in his free time. Sometimes we have some of his original paintings in the merch on tour. Other than, that we don’t have much time left between the band and the families.

Your drummer Martin “Metal” Svensson played in the Thrash metal horde Invasion and your guitarist Rickard Fäldt still active with Doom/stoner band Haddock. Share with us some thoughts about these bands.

- They were both excellent bands. None of them exists now though. 

According to Encyclopaedia Metallum, your band from Åmål (early) and Karlstad nowadays. Recommend to the readers some bands, interesting places to visit in your area and local foods and drinks as well, please.

- Yes, we were founded in Åmål back in 02 but everybody moved to Karlstad around 04-05. There are a lot of good bands from Karlstad. Of course, there’s VOMITORY and GEHENNAH, but some bands you might not have heard and should check out is VULKAN, REINCARNAGE, CUT UP, UNFOUND RELIANCE, CONDEMNED AD and INCARNIT to name a few.

Tourists should visit BORGVIK, an old steel mill that provided the steel for the Eiffel tower for example. It’s now a cultural center with a lot of activities, museum, restaurants and so on. We also did our last photo shoot there and also the mu-sic video for Blood for Blood back in 2013 is shot partly out there.

In Karlstad we have a local beer brewery called Good Guys, they have killer beer and amazing pizza. Definitely go check them out.

After the sad departure of Lars-Göran Petrov (R.I.P.) I decided to dedicate my humble blog to His Eternal memory as well in 2021. Are you have any favorite release from His heritage? The Generals shared the stages with Entombed and/or Entombed A.D. in the past? 

- We were all devastated when the news hit about his departure. We met him many times in back stage areas on festivals or in clubs etc. and had many beers together. We are all real fans of his work and I in particular have him as great vocal inspiration. My favorite release is “To ride, shoot straight and speak the truth” by ENTOMBED, but as I said, everything is good. Yes, we have played support act for ENTOMBED back in the days, just before they broke up and ENTOMBED AD was formed.   

Tack så mycket/Thanks a lot The Generals, I wish you all the best! Send your mes-sage to the readers in the end...

- Thanks. Now when we finally have our world back, I really hope that you guys start to attend live shows again! Please follow our social media channels for updates. See you on the road!

Important links: 

facebook.com/thegeneralsSWE 

facebook.com/Blackzombierecords 

Erik Sprooten

Interview with Erik Sprooten 
(Inquisitor, Ancient Rites, Plusminus)

"From Past to Present, 
Thoughts of an Inquisitor of Ancient Rites"

Questions compiled by Anita vH, Georgius and Sorin 

Georgius: Hail Erik! In our very first conversation you told to us your first band was Menticide, where you played together with Alex Bakker and Wim van der Valk 30 years ago. What was the Menticide’s style? Could you mention a few track titles? Did you play any covers at your rehearsals? 

- Hail Georgius, I appreciate it a lot that you ask me some questions again! Menticide was founded in 1989 and was indeed my first band experience but it was short-lived. The name is actually a word taken from the lyrics of “The Death of Innocence” by Dark Angel. The first line-up was with Wim van der Valk on drums, Alex Bakker on bass guitar and vocals and me on guitar. For Wim and me, it was our first band experience but Alex was already experienced as a bass-player and did make music with other people before. I think that I started playing guitar early 1989 but I'm not sure, maybe I already started in 1988. Anyway I wasn't really good back then and Wim just started playing drums, but the lack of experience didn't stop me, Wim and Alex to enter a rehearsal room in a village close to our homes to try to make some metal. I remember that our first rehearsal was a lot of fun but musically it wasn't very good, but that didn't matter 'cause we had a great time. We tried to play Thrash Metal, but we just "played" cover tunes like for instance “Hang The Pope” by Nuclear Assault and "Beer Bong" by Atrophy to name a few. After Wim left, a new line-up was formed with Alex on drums but that line-up also didn't last very long and with this line-up we even tried to write own songs but  in the end, Menticide simply ceased to exist in 1990 if I remember correctly and Alex joined Desultory on guitar. Looking back, I wasn't at the level where I wanted to be, and maybe it was too early for me to play guitar in a band at that time but I did it anyway, 'cause I had the desire to do it. Menticide was just a band where I found out how much fun it is to play in a band. After Menticide disbanded,  I started the obligatory military service for the Dutch army in November 1990, and this ended in November 1991. After one month in military service I bought my first Marshall amp (50W 2x12” combo) which helped me in getting a better sound. During the year 1991, I didn't play in any band, but my guitarplaying improved a lot and that was a reason for Alex Bakker, when he left Desultory in 1991, to ask me in a new band with Alex Wesdijk on vocals. I was happy to join and not much later Wim also became a member of this new band and left Desultory too. At first we even had a second guitarist and we wanted to expirement a bit more but it didn't quite work out with this guitarist, and shortly after he left, we named ourselves Inquisitor and we decided to focus on extreme thrash metal with blasphemous lyrics, and the rest is history.

Georgius: Wim and Alex left Menticide and joined extreme Thrash horde, called Dutch Desultory 1990-1992, if I’m not mistaken. Unfortunately I only heard the band name but didn’t listen to their demos. I’ve found on Encyclopedea Metallum an interesting live split cassette release, namely Desultory/Inquisitor: Crush the Holy Church through Hell Spawn Tapes. Enlighten us all the important details about this rare stuff. 

- Desultory released two demos: “Religious Extermination” and “Luminious Assasination”. On both demos, you can hear Wim van der Valk on drums, and Alex Bakker is featured as guitarist on “Luminious Assasination”. The music and especially the voice of Johan Wesdijk (older brother of Alex Wesdijk of Inquisitor) was influenced by Kreator and other Teutonic Thrash Metal bands. Johan later joined Pleurisy and more recently he was a member of KhaoZ. The split-tape was recorded at a concert which was organised by Inquisitor in coöperation with three youth centres from our area. The tape was released by Hellspawn tapes from Holland. Other bands on the bill were Phlebotomized and Pleurisy. Judgement Day was supposed to play but apparently they couldn't so Pleurisy played instead. The setlist of Desultory is kinda interesting 'cause it hardly features any songs from the demo's. One song (Decapitated) which they performed was recorded in a studio and later featured on a compilation CD but the other songs have (as far as I know) never been properly recorded and can be heard exclusively on this split-tape. That day, Desultory performed with a new line-up of which I don't remember everyone but I'm pretty sure that Alex Seegers (guitar) and Edwin Nederkoorn (drums) of Pleurisy were part of it. Edwin Nederkoorn is nowadays drummer for Bloodphemy and he was also a member of KhaoZ. Alex Seegers is  bass player for Bodyfarm nowadays. And although the second demo of Inquisitor wasn't released yet we did already perform a few songs from it live as can be heard on the split cassette. We also did "A Cautionary Tale" of Sabbat already back then and we used to play "Black Magic" by Slayer in those days too but we don't do that song anymore, and now that Slayer called it quits unfortunately, we're still not going to play "Black Magic" anymore.

Georgius: I read in a few old ‘zines and you mentioned shortly as well, that Inquisitor had some problems with local churches in your hometown. Would you be so kind to share your memories about it? 

- Although things changed a little bit for the better lately, our area, is still a very christian area and is part of the so-called Dutch bible belt. In 1993 we were invited to play on a local pop-festival in Harderwijk, (where Alex Bakker and I still live). Our lyrics were not so friendly towards christianity and its believers and living in this bible belt certainly was an inspiration for those lyrics. Anyway, the organisation of this local festival apparently advertised us, if I remember correctly, as an anti-christian band and not as a thrash metal band. I don't know if that was done on purpose but that was not our idea. I lately found a small local magazine with an old interview, which was done with a journalist in my house back then, with me and Alex Bakker and some of our answers were not-so-christian-friendly which may have added fuel to the fire. Our gig at the local popfestival wasn't canceled, so we did our show, which was f**king great, and there was quite a lot of audience for us! Next Monday, after our performance, a small article appeared in a local paper which described that some local churches tried to get our performance cancelled because of our lyrics. Their attempt to cancel us, backfired on them, because I spread that article in the metal scene and it helped us gaining some notoriety and new fans. And right now I'm talking about it again so...

Georgius: You mentioned that Inquisitor shared common stage with Ancient Rites in early 90s. What are your experiences about that awesome show?

 

- It was great to play with Ancient Rites and it was also the first time that I ever saw them. It was on May the 15th in 1993 at a venue called Soos Plock in a town called Veghel in The Netherlands to be precise and it was our third gig. There was not that much audience unfortunately but it was a good opportunity to get the name of Inquisitor out and for Ancient Rites too. It was nice to meet the members of Ancient Rites and I remember that they told us that they just did a few shows in Greece, and Gunther was at that time using an effect on his vocals like you can hear on “The Diabolic Serenades”. I don't remember that much from that evening, but I remember that Alex Bakker was very enthousiastic about the Marshall Bass amp of Gunther on which he was allowed to play. I don't know if this show was a real reason a few years later for Ancient Rites to ask me to join them on tour in 1996, but they probably did remember me from this show. 

Georgius: Tell us some interesting stories about the touring with Ancient Rites from 90s. 

- In 1998 we did a tour for 8 days with Deicide, Six Feet Under, Brutal Truth, Amon Amarth and Naglfar. We wanted to take part on this tour but the condition was, if I remember correctly, that we could only take part if we arranged our own transport. That's was kind of a challenge but Jan Yrlund (our guitarist back then) managed to arrange the bus of his old band Prestige so that we at least could do those 8 gigs. The bus was not in a very good condition but we went along with it. The bus did have plenty of space for all of our equipment and there were even some beds in it and  was also more or less our own backstage. On the first day we got pulled over by the French police 'cause the bus and it's people looked suspicious in their eyes. Of course they let a drug detection dog search for drugs which the dog couldn't find 'cause none of us did any drugs. You would expect to see a Rottweiler or another big dog to do this but they had this miniature French Poodle for this, which looked kinda funny to me. In the end, everything was ok, so we continued our way and went to Strasbourg to do the first gig of this tour and it was fantastic! In Strasbourg the audience went nuts when we opened with "Mother Europe" which was a new song at the time because the album "Fatherland" was not even released yet. 

Due to the technical state of the bus, we later missed two gigs unfortunately but let's face it, we had not much other choices or stay at home and do nothing but we were hungry to go on tour again and I think we gained new fans in doing so. 

The following story has less to do with the music of Ancient Rites but happened on tour, and I like sharing it anyway. In 1999 we toured again with Deïcide but this time, a proper nightliner was arranged. On the 26th of February, we had to play in Strasbourg again in the same venue (La Laiterie) as the year before. We arrived early and since there was enough time, I decided to visit the centre of Strasbourg. A few years before, my father, who used to be a cook, went to visit a former colleague who, at that time, runned a restaurant in Strasbourg which was awarded with three Michelin Stars. I won't go into details too much but to my father, eating in that restaurant was an ultimate experience. With that in mind, I got the kind of crazy idea to visit that restaurant called "Le Crocodile". In 1999 there was no thing such as Google Maps, so I asked  people on the street (in French) "Ou est Le Crodile?". Imagine that I still had long hair and was wearing a black motorcycle jacket. Those people didn't quite expect a metalhead to search for such a chic restaurant. But anyway I found Le Crocodile and I went in, and said in German to a very polite woman that I'm looking for the owner, who happens to be a friend of my father. So the owner showed up and I told him that I'm the son of Felix Sprooten. He was surprised but he asked me how my father was doing and I told him that he was doing fine and that today is his birthday. He said "Wait a minute". He returned and gave me a bottle of wine for my dad's birthday. I thanked him a lot for it, and I took this bottle back to the tourbus and hid it very carefully or else it would have gone empty. When I got home after the tour, I gave this bottle of wine, which happened to be a quite expensive brand, to my dad and it's needless to say that he was very happy with it and a few days later he called his friend in Strasbourg to thank him for it.

1997 or 1998 picture by Anita vH

Sorin (Romania): Did you have problems with others back then when you got into rock/metal? (like getting your T-shirts burned and/or trashed, everybody on your tail everyday and so on) 

- My parents didn't really like the music I was listening to but they accepted it back then. Metal wasn't very popular back then in my town and despite living in this bible-belt, I didn't really get into trouble and my T-shirts were never burned or thrashed. At high school I didn't feel like a popular guy, but nobody was on my tail because of me wearing metal T-shirts (from Saxon, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Metallica). I wore my metal T-shirts at school with pride and confidence which attracted a few who liked the same music, and that was great. So I made a few metal friends at school and so it happened that with one friend I went to see Saxon in 1985, and with another friend I went to see Dio and Judas Priest in 1986. Those were great times but I haven't seen those friends in years. 

Sorin: Did you ever write in zines? (If not, were you ever invited or had some plans to start one?) What are your favourite zines/magazines? 

- I did write one or two reviews for a small webzine but that's about it. No, I never had the intention to start a zine too. I prefer underground metal magazines. Back in the days you had a great underground fanzine called Morbid Magazine which I read a lot and certainly was one of the best if not the best underground magazine of its time.

Sorin: Can you name some albums that changed your vision in music and/or scene back in time? (The question is NOT an alternative way of asking "What are your favourite albums?") 

- My first album I really got into, was Dynasty by KISS, which sounds relatively poppy, but my second album of KISS was "Double Platinum" and that album changed my future taste in music 'cause that's when I realized that I developed a preference for Hardrock and later Heavy Metal. My next WTF moment was, when I first heard "Fight Fire With Fire" from Metallica from "Ride The Lightning". I was blown away, 'cause that was metal on a different level compared to what I was listening at that time (Judas Priest, Saxon & Iron Maiden), so that definetely changed my vision in music. "Ride The Lightning" was the first album I heard of Metallica, and I discovered "Kill 'em All" only some time after I heard the album "Master of Puppets". And shortly after that I heard Slayer for the first time, which again was a new level of what I was used to hear. Throughout the 80's I slowly but surely started to appreciate more and more extreme metal like Dark Angel and Kreator. I don't exactly remember when I received "Illusions" of Sadus on LP, which I ordered directly from the band, but I was blown away by its speed and aggression, and I dreamed of being in a similar band, and that more or less happened  when I joined Inquisitor. "Illusions" (aka Chemical Exposure) is still a favourite album of mine. Throughout the years some bands changed the metal scene and maybe my vision too, but they may not necesarilly be my favourite bands.

Sorin: What was your opinion on CD's when they came out in comparison to LP's and tapes? What is your nowadays favourite format and why? 

- My opinion on CD's back then (80's) was that they were far too expensive compared to LP's and tapes but the advantages were clear to me. You didn't hear any scratches anymore, and a regular CD doesn't have two sides. Downside of a CD is the size of the artwork. On an LP artwork simply looks better because of it's bigger size. However, I still think that a CD is actually easier to play then an LP. I think that it's almost unreal what's going on for some time now, but nowadays CD's are mostly cheaper than LP's because of the vinyl hype. To some people it may sound strange, but I just have no favourite format. I'm a collector and I still buy CD's,  LP's and sometimes even tapes and I continue to do so although I can listen anything on Spotify or YouTube. To me, the music itself is the most important, and not necessarily the format on which it can be heard.

Georgius: What could you tell the readers about the re-mastered version of Legendary Inquisitor demos in 2014? 

- Hammerheart Records suggested that we should remaster our demo's and our debut album "Walpurgis – Sabbath Of Lust" for the re-release, and of course I agreed with that. They brought me in contact with JB van der Wal who was bass player of Aborted at that time, and we met in the city of Groningen where he lives. First JB and I went to a studio where the DAT tapes with all of the Inquisitor recordings could be transferred to audio files on a computer. And while this process was happening, I had to listen for possible drop-outs which fortunately didn't occurr. Those transferred audio files were then remastered by JB at his homestudio and the idea was to get the different recordings to sound better of course but also to make them sound more or less alike. I let JB do his magic during the following weeks and  the final result was great! 

Sorin: What kind of guitar playing do you prefer: to have simultaneously a picking guitar and a fast hand for changing chords (like, for example, what was before 1988) or a less-chaotic one, but more controlled (what came after 1988)? 

- I have no preference for a way of playing as a listener. It doesn't matter if certain albums I like are played relatively chaotic or played more controlled, as long as I get excited, I'm satisfied. The atmosphere, the songs or what an album does to you is what matters most. As a guitarist, I try to play as tight and controlled as possible and if possible 100% perfect and I'm certainly not aiming for chaotic playing but in a live situation it may occurr that I sometimes lose a little bit of control due to circumstances but that's ok, as long as it's acceptable and doesn't fuck up the song or the performance. 

Anita vH (The Netherlands/Sweden): What is the difference between going on tour now and then?

- It's a long time ago that we actually did a real tour in a nightliner but I don't think that touring in a nightliner itself changed that much, you still need to travel all those kilometres. What I do think changed is flying to a gig, and not flying in itself of course. Since 911, flying became more complicated, and I mean mainly administrative. We often travel(led) with cheap airlines, and probably due to their cheapness, I always find it a hassle to book tickets and do the check in. I'll never know for sure what extra costs I can expect at the airport during the check-in.

Anita vH: What has been your favourite gig from all these years? 

- It's impossible to name just one gig as my favourite gig. Gigs with Ancient Rites on Dynamo 1999, Wacken 2003, Motocultor 2015 and the three gigs we did at Graspop absolutely belong my favourites, because it's simply great to play at such festivals with so many people. But a gig in 1999 in Katowice, Poland was one of the craziest gigs I've ever experienced. That audience was f**king great! And I remember from that gig, right after we finished our set, that I was pulled into the audience and that I did some crowdsurfing, which was crazy. Best gig of Inquisitor in the old days was for me our performance in the Batcave in Tilburg in 1994. And since our reunion, I think that our best gig was last year in Drachten.

Graspop 1999 (picture by Anita vH)

Anita vH: Do you keep all equipment from what you started with from the very beginning? 

- My very first guitar and my very first crappy amp I (fortunately) don't have anymore. But I still have some equipment from the early years of Inquisitor namely my LAG VRL, which is my Ferrari-Red Rhandy Rhoads Flying-V, and my 100W Marshall 2203 + 4x12" cabinet with Marshall T3120 speakers (G12-65) inside, which I'm happy to use again. I don't have any pedals left from those days. I remember that I used a Boss HM-2, which is now a popular pedal among people who want to recreate the old school Swedish Death metal sound.

I also used to have a black BC Rich Warlock (platinum series from Korea) as a back-up guitar, but I sold that one in the nineties. This guitar can be heard on "Walpurgis – Sabbath of Lust" as second guitar. I also still have the Iceman guitar made by Zwier Gitaarbouw which I used live with both Ancient Rites and Inquisitor. That guitar can be heard on the guitarsolo of "Dying In A Moment of Splendour" on the "Fatherland" album. 

Anita vH: Any new good bands with old sound you could recommend me? (that I don’t know yet) 

- That may be a difficult question 'cause you already know a lot of old school style bands. A band which comes to my mind which you might not know is a Frisian band called Sadotank. They play what you may call black thrash metal. I saw them earlier this year and I like them. I also would recommend thrash metal band Defazer from The Hague (NL) which I saw live in my hometown in 2017. And if you haven't already heard of Bütcher Speed Metal from Belgium, than I suggest you to check them out too. They are signed to Osmose Records I think.

Georgius: How were the Ancient Rites shows in Roeselare and Oud-Turnhout this year? Share us please your memories from these concerts. 

- In Oud-Turnhout we played at a festival called Frietrock, where we did a short but great set. Although the weather wasn't perfect, the audience was great and it was nice to have played there. In Roeselaere we did two sold-out shows! At first, it was only one show, and for this show we were asked to do a special old school set with only songs from the first two albums. This show sold-out very quickly, so another show was added, which also sold out. Anyway, it has been asked a few times before, if we could do an old-school set, but now we felt it was time to do it. It took a lot of preparations during the months before but fortunately both shows were a huge success! Some of the songs haven't been played for years and three of them I never even played with Ancient Rites. It was really great to play those old songs again and most songs of the old school set I played before on the "Blasfemia" Tour in 1996 when I was session guitarist and still in Inquisitor at the time. That tour in 1996 was also with Bewitched, Sacramentum and Enthroned. Nice detail is, that the shows in Roeselaere also featured Sabathan, which features Sabathan (hence the name), former singer/bass player of Enthroned, and they also played only old Enthroned songs, which made for a nice trip to memory lane. It would be nice if we could do more shows together with Sabathan.

Dank je wel/thank you very very much, Erik! It was a pleasure as always. Your message for Inquisitor and Ancient Rites fans… 

- Thanks again for this interview! Thanks a lot to the fans for making possible what I do. Please check our webpages on a regular basis to see what's going on with my bands. Ancient Rites will definitely do more old school shows, that's something which you shouldn't miss, so be there! Inquisitor is working on new material and we will do a couple shows next year. Feel free to contact me. 

Georgius: More than a year ago your bandmate and friend Walter van Cortenberg (20.I.1970-16.III.2021 R.I.P.) sadly passed away...Would you be so kind to tell the readers some thoughts about Him? 

- It's now more than a year that Walter passed away, and I still find it strange that he is not around us anymore, and I miss him. I will always remember the jokes and adventures we shared while touring, rehearsing or on the road with Ancient Rites. There are too many to mention but I wont forget those. On a musical level Walter was a very reliable drummer who hardly made any mistakes, and always knew his well constructed parts very well. Therefore he was a great backbone for the band. Walter was very dedicated to Ancient Rites and in later years his family was also very dear to him. His job at Interbrew was also important to him although he told me once that it was “just his job”. I spoke to him on the phone a few weeks before his death about some upcoming gigs, and asked him if he was available for those gigs, which he was (of course). It seems to me that he was looking forward, he just bought a new house with his family and moved to a different village. I also felt that Walter was kind of rejuvenated that we were doing the “Old school set”. He was absolutely into it, and also wanted to record a new album in the old school style. Ancient Rites will plan to record a new album in honour of Walter.

Important links: 

Ancient Rites: 

ancientrites.be

facebook.com/ancientrites

instagram.com/ancientritesofficial/

open.spotify.com/artist/0okB1HEJFLD98VkNzLtTBJ

Inquisitor: 

inquisitorxtremethrash.nl

facebook.com/InquisitorXtremeThrash

instagram.com/inquisitor_xtreme_thrash/

twitter.com/inquisitormetal

open.spotify.com/artist/3WwaUvqD8lG7fhGuicHsE3

Plusminus: 

plusminusrocks.com

facebook.com/plusminusrocks

Erik Sprooten artist-page: facebook.com/Erik-Sprooten-623899868029148/

Additional thoughts by Alex Wesdijk 

(Vocalist of Inquisitor) 

(29.XII.2020) 

Hail Alex, which Hard Rock/Metal band did you see live at first?

- The first band I’ve seen live was Vengeance (The Netherlands). By the way, their guitar-player, Oscar Holleman produced Inquisitor: “Walpurgis – Sabbath of Lust in 1996.

What are your favourite bands and vocalists?

- My musical input is very wide: from Kiss, Thin Lizzy, Philip Lynott, Rush, Led Zeppelin, Marillion, Nazareth, Black Sabbath, Skyclad through NWOBHM to Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa. 

But in the scene my voice sounds a bit different so I prefer Martin Walkyier’s manner of vocalizing.