Hail Tomasz, welcome to my own hell, Archangel’s Lantern. First of all, introduce your Death metal horde, Spirits Way from the beginnings to our days in short.
Tomasz: Hail! I founded the band Spirits Way together with Marcin Dobrzyniecki (BHP, Alpha Zero) in 2010, we already started touring and recording songs that were included in the first album "Freedom Through Blood". Over the years, the band's line-up has changed a lot, sometimes from album to album or from a concert for the concert, but it never stopped me and I still continue my mission... The story is very interesting and full of great memories from tours or single concerts and working in the studio on each album. Spirits Way is a symbol of my determination and persistence that has no limits, it is a band that is an unsinkable ship, despite the fact that many have tried to disturb me or still try to do so, we create music that we love and both I and each of the current musicians have this passion to achieve our goals...
We play Death Metal that doesn't need a brown nose... if you know what I mean..
Spirits Way will release a new album "Attendite a Falsis Prophetis” 31th of May, this year. Tell the readers more about the recording-process, song-writing lyrical conception, cover art, current line-up and your label, Teufelszeugrecords.
Tomasz: The music for the new album was created at a perfect time for me, after disastrous experiences with pseudo-musicians with whom I worked in another band, I started to think about the return of Spirits Way to the stage... and as usual, a coincidence of good circumstances and the fact that I met Shaun Black (drums) on its way made everything possible again.
Me and Shaun have similar experiences with the band I mentioned and our paths crossed to work together...
I've been living in London for a few years and I had to make a decision about the studio in which we would record. The choice fell on the studio owned by Shaun, he also took on the task of producing this album, which gave us a comfort of work that few people can afford.
When I started composing material for the album, I had no plans other than to put all the anger back into my music, each song was created while I was working with Shaun and it is a soundtrack to the lies of religion and people but also a symbolic metaphor based on our experiences.
As for the company we work with, I am satisfied for now. Manja and Marco (Teufelszeugrecords) are great people with whom we will do great things.
I watched two awesome videos, namely “My Throne is Made of the Bones of Jesus '' feat. Jim Ross (Bandwhore, Nader Sadek) and ''Paradox of Anger'' feat. Dave Suzuki (Churchburn, ex-Vital Remains). Who made these videos? How did you meet Jim Ross and Dave Suzuki?
Tomasz: the visualizations were made by our friend Cymer (Symbolical) and he also appeared as a guest on the new album, his vocals are great!
Shaun has worked with Jim Ross before and I also have the honor of working in the Bandwhore band where Jim is the captain and the master of ceremonies, and I have known Dave for many years, he has always supported us and been kind to me, of course it is an honor for me when my masters plays on my album.
I know, that is a hard question but would you be so kind to share your thoughts track by track about "Attendite a Falsis Prophetis”?
Tomasz: It is a manifesto of opposition and rebellion against religion and its symbols! beware of false prophets (Attendite a Falsis Prophetis ) these words also speak of falsehood among people who think they are important and lie to the world and themselves.
There are songs that directly attack the symbol of the Christian religion, i.e. Jesus, but there are also songs that are a metaphor of opposition and full of anger.
What should we know about live performances of Spirits Way for 2024?
Tomasz: You should know, we'll kick your ass! I won't say more...
When did you start to play the guitar and growl? Which guitar-players and vocalists inspired you in the beginning? What are your favourite albums?
Tomasz: I started learning to play the guitar when I was 6-7 years old. I started with classical guitar, learning to play Bossa nova, etc. After a few years, Death Metal appeared... but at the beginning, the love for the guitar appeared thanks to Joe Satriani! He is my master, teacher and an unrivaled outstanding artist. I love Yngwie Malmsteen, Zakk Wylde, Dimebag Darrell, Jeff Beck, Marty Friedman, Jason Becker and Dave Suzuki
I have always admired Phil Anselmo as a singer and Glen Benton.
You know? I rarely listen to Black/Death metal, of course I love this kind of music, but when it comes to my favorite albums, I have several from a completely different area:
-Joe Satriani "Strange beautiful music"
-Jeff Beck "Who Else"
-Black Label Society "1919"
-Pantera "Vulgar Display of Power
-Extreme "Pornograffity"
and many more...
You played on guitar in a Polish Black metal horde Black Altar, if I’m not mistaken. Tell us more about that past activity.
Tomasz: You know, I don't want to be rude because you are very polite to me, but I thought we were going to talk about music and art, not about Black Altar. Well... I am the composer and performer of all guitar parts on the album "Deus inversus", that's all.
Archangel’s Lantern is eternally dedicated to the memory of Lars-Göran Petrov (R.I.P.) amongst others.. Did you see and meet him live? Are you have any preferred albums/tracks by his heritage?
Tomasz: Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to meet Lars-Göran Petrov, but of course Entombed is undoubtedly an important chapter in the history of music...
You played lead guitar as a guest to Polish Death metal horde Symbolical, on EP called “Natura” in 2022. How did happen that alliance?
Tomasz: We have known each other Spirits Way and Symbolical for many years, I am friends with Cymer and it happened absolutely naturally... Cymer called with a proposition and I just recorded it! The situation was identical when we recording our new album.
How do you see Polish underground movement nowadays? Which hordes do you recommend us to check out?
Tomasz: There are so many great bands... so many!
I recommend you Sphere, MASACHIST, Symbolical Vephar, Hellfuck, Godslut.Hostia...
Poland is a country of death metal.
Dziękuję bardzo/thanks a lot, Tomasz, all the best to you! Send your message of Spirits Way to the readers in the end.
Tomasz: Lengyel-magyar két társ.
Thank you for your support and INTERVIEW! Greetings to everyone, wait for the new album because we will show you our sharp teeth!
Ave Vincent! On the 23th of February Vincent Crowley Band unleashed the second album “Anthology Of Horror” and I must admit that is just simply brilliant stuff in my humble opinion. Would you be so kind to share some information about the line-up, the song-writing and recording process, lyrical themes and artwork? How do you describe the style of your music?
VC- Thank you! The line-up is Art Taylor and Eric Stewart on Guitars, Ryan Arter on Drums, Tim Wilson on Bass, and myself on vocals. The VINCENT CROWLEY band likes to refer to ourselves as Macabre Metal and a Musical Horror Experience. Our music is more rooted in traditional Heavy Metal, but with my vocals that gives it a taste of death. But we have influences of all kinds of things, including Doom, Death, Black, and even Thrash. After the release of the debut album “Beyond Acheron”, which were stories based on themes linked to death, I wanted to keep telling stories, but even more in the Horror realm. On “Anthology of Horror”, we embarked on going 100% into that topic. Due to the COVID restrictions at the time, the band just started writing new material after the debut, since we couldn’t do shows. On this album, we truly found our direction for the band. “Beyond Acheron” was a album that helped Art and I shed the skin of our previous band ACHERON. This album completed the process. As for the artwork, German artist Timo Wuerz, who did the first VINCENT CROWLEY cover and ACHERON cover’s during the 2000’s era, also did this one. He did a great piece that linked all of the song ideas together.
In my Hungarian review in Kronos Mortus I’ve marked 10 this album, I really enjoyed every single moment in your new opus. You made 2 awesome videos for the new LP. Tell us more about these videos, please. Do you plan to create new video(s) for the “Anthology Of Horror” in the near future?
VC- I did see this and appreciate the great review. I’m glad you enjoyed it. The videos were made by Carl Assault at VISUAL MEDIA ASSAULT. He does great work in the style I absolutely love. The lyric video “That Which Lurks Below the Sea” is like an old black and white horror monster movie. And “Amityville’s Horror” is a band video that captures the feel of a 70’s Grindhouse film. We do have plans to do more videos. The next one up will be for the song “Under the Hanging Tree”. We hope to start filming that as soon as the weather gets warmer and we can do some filming outside.
I know that you are a big supporter of Mercyful Fate/King Diamond and your King Diamond cover, “Killer” is an awesome job, I think, King Diamond would be proud! Why did you choose this particular track from Spider’s Lullaby”?
VC- Yes, those bands are a big inspiration to me. It would be great to have King listen to it. I chose that song because it was an obscure one from an album that wasn’t very popular with older fans. That fact is “Killer” is a great tune and it totally fit the theme of our album. And The Spider’s Lullaby is a very underrated album.
Vincent Crowley Band signed to Dutch Hammerheart Records, I think, that’s great because they do a great job for their hordes. How do you see that?
VC- It has been a wonderful experience working with HAMMERHEART RECORDS. They took a chance with the band and believed in us and have really helped to get our music out there to the fans. Hopefully the album does well and we can return to do another album with them. I already have ideas for the next one!
Are there any plans to play live with Vincent Crowley band in Europe this year?
VC- That is our plan. We just signed with NICK GRIMA MANAGEMENT/BOOKING to try to get on some fests or shows. Hopefully something comes up for this year.
As I’m your follower of your official YouTube channel, I’ve found a lot of interesting and rare stuff. Please introduce your channel to the readers.
VC- The VINCENT CROWLEY channel on YOUTUBE is something I first started just to post my music. Then I started to get more active on it and began doing Q&A’s from fans. Now, I’m trying to do other things too, such as special episodes and interviews with others. It is a way to keep in touch with the fans and make it more personal.
I listened to Dominari-demo on your channel, awesome Death-Black material! There are any chances for the full-length?
VC- You never know? I’d like too, but it all depends on my free-time. But I can see at least an EP coming out in the future, it time permits.
I wrote two Hungarian reviews in Kronos Mortus about Infidel Reich-albums, namely “Reichenstein” (2019) and “New World Outrage” (2021). I liked a lot all the tracks of Infidel Reich and I’m sad that you stopped activity with that horde. What are your favourite tracks from the EP and two LPs? It would be possible in the near future to release a new Infidel Reich album?
VC- INFIDEL REICH was a special project to me. We did it at a time when the scene needed to stir the pot and be rebellious again. It was a very artistic way of expressing our disgust for the “safe” world of today. I don’t have any favorite songs, because each has a special place in my dark heart. The band never broke up. We are just on a hiatus until we feel the time is right to launch another Metal attack.
I’m an old supporter of Acheron since early 90s and what do you think: It will be an Acheron-reunion later?
VC- It has been over 5 years since I did a live show with ACHERON. At the present time, I don’t see the need to do one. But I’ll never say never. But it would have to be one hell of a special show to do so. And you never know, I may record a few new ACHERON songs in the future, but it won’t be another full-length album.
You were a guest vocalist on the Brazilian Beelzeebuth’s track Black Slave Ship (The Triumph of Death) and in Polish DeathEpoch’s track Genocide V in 2020, if I’m not mistaken. Tell us more about this Infernal collaboration.
VC- Armado from MYSTIFIER, who I have been friends with, asked be to do guest lead vocals for that song on his solo BEELZEEBUTH album, which I gladly did. And DEATHEPOCH asked me to do some vocals in a part of their song. Both are great bands and the songs were well written tunes. It was great to be included on their albums.
Thank you very much Vincent, it was a pleasure to talk to you again, total support from my side to you always. Send your message beyond the Acheron to the readers of Archangel’s Lantern to complete this conversation.
VC- It has been a pleasure to again be featured in ARCHANGEL’S LANTERN. Your support is hailed! Darkness comes in many forms, and we hope everyone picks up the new VINCENT CROWLEY album “Anthology of Horror” on HAMMERHEART RECORDS. Also, make sure to visit my VINCENT CROWLEY channel on YOUTUBE and leave your comments on the videos. I always enjoy hearing from the fans. May your 2024 be successful!
Hail Erik, you are very welcome to my humble blog again! Tell us at first, what is the current line up of Ancient Rites. Are you working with new Ancient Rites tracks/ new album nowadays?
The current line-up is:
Gunther Theys – Vocals
Erik Sprooten – Lead & Rhythm Guitar
Jory Hogeveen – Lead & Rhythm Guitar
Patrick Mallo – Bass Guitar
John Berry – Drums
- Hail Georgius, it's nice to be back and doing an interview with you again. Thank you very much! Yes, we have done a few writing sessions in Belgium for new songs. So we are indeed working on new material. With this new line-up, we write the songs in a different way compared to the way before with previous line-ups. We will try to create songs with a more old school feel, but that's easier said then done. But we like and respect the first albums, and we feel that those albums should be the direction for us to create new material. But I guess it will be inevitable that there will be some new and fresh twists added to the music. However, I'd like the readers to realize, that we will not sound like the line-up who recorded “The Diabolic serenades” and “Blasfemia Eternal”. Only Gunther is the remaining member from that line-up, and the only original Ancient Rites member left. Our late drummer Walter is unfortunately no longer with us, may he rest in peace. Walter was always involved in the creative process. Furthermore, neither me or Jory Hogeveen sound like former guitarist Bart and nobody else will. I've worked with several different musicians playing different styles throughout the years, and I've noticed that every musician, no matter what instrument he or she plays, he or she will always bring their own flavor to the music. That being said, I'm very curious what the end result of our new album will be.
Ancient Rites is very active with live shows last time. Unfortunately, I missed your live show in Poland in November, 2022 but my good old friend Andrey Tolkowiec enjoyed a lot. (Thanks a lot for the signatures!) Share some memories about your performances in Poland.
- The shows in Poland were great. Those shows have already taken place in 2022 but I have positive memories of it. They were a success and it was great to play two headline shows in Poland. The first show was in the Voodoo Club in Warsaw, and the next day, the second show, took place in Chorzów, close to the city of Katowice. On Friday, in Warsaw, I met a fan from the Czech Republic together with his girlfriend from Slovakia. He visited a show of Ancient Rites back in 2002 in Leszno, Poland. Back then he was photographed with me and of course we did this again in the Voodo Club. To my pleasant surprise, he gave me a unique T-shirt which he made especially for me, with that picture of me and him from 2002. I really like this T-shirt a lot, and after the show, we had a few drinks together. This was certainly something special. Looking back, this small weekend tour was well-organized, and we have been taken care of very well. Ancient Rites has done shows in Poland before and it seems that we have quite a following over there. It would be great to do some more shows in Poland again in the near future. I'm very happy that we are doing more shows lately in general.
In May 2023 Ancient Rites played in Israel, Tel-Aviv and I saw 2 common pictures with Nergal of Behemoth. Tell us about the show and the story of the pictures. By the way, do you have favourite albums/tracks from Behemoth?
- We enjoyed our show in Tel Aviv very much and it was great to play for very fanatic Ancient Rites fans in Israel again. The audience was great and gave us a very warm welcome. It was nice to be back in Israel, and during the weekend, we were enjoying ourselves as tourists. Keep in mind, that it's not always possible to do some proper sightseeing and enjoying the country we are visiting when we are “on tour”, but fortunately, we had a little bit of time for that. Nergal was also in Israel because he did a benefit show in Tel Aviv a few nights before, and we ended up having a dinner with him together. Gunther and myself have met him before, 'cause in 1999, we toured together (with Deicide, Rotting Christ and Aeturnus). He was very friendly to us, and it was nice to meet him again after all those years. When it comes to Behemoth, I prefer to listen to their albums of the nineties like for instance the album “Grom” and the compilation album “Chaotica”. However, I don't have any particularly favourite tracks but I listen to Behemoth from time to time.
I saw tons of photos and videos of Ancient Rites tour in South America in 2023. Would you be so kind to talk about your experiences more?
- I have spoken quite a lot of musician friends who toured in South America and they told me always like, if you can go to South America (under the right conditions of course) with Ancient Rites, do it. We also have received several e-mails throughout the years in which they invited us to do tours in South America, but for some (unknown) reasons, it never happened. So last year, it finally happened, and it was really a blast! The tour in South America was amazing. It was definitely one of the best things we have ever done with Ancient Rites. We definitely would love to go back to South America for sure and hopefully visit a few other South American countries as well if possible. We seem to have quite a following in that part of the globe. The touring schedule was challenging, but the audiences over there are absolutely fantastic and worth it. The fans in South America are different than in Europe and they seem more passionate when it comes to music. Quite some fans brought their vinyl, CD's and other items for us to sign with our autographs and a lot of fans wanted to take pictures with us. One fan even waited for us at the airport of Santiago and wanted all his items signed over there. In Bogota, it even may have felt a little bit like “Beatle mania” if the reader knows what I mean. We felt very much appreciated in South America and we were welcomed with open arms, and it was heartwarming for sure. Our South American tour went smoothly without any serious problems, except for that our luggage was almost on its way to Chile, but it was fortunately intercepted at the airport of Lima, Peru, where we had a show the next day. We didn't have much time to be tourists, but we did manage to do some sightseeing in Bogota, Lima and Santiago, which is always enjoyable. What kinda surprised me, was that I expected the weather to be very hot, but it actually turned out to be quite pleasant in most places we visited. In Sao Paolo, it should normally be quite hot, but during the weekend when we were there, it was cloudy, and therefore temperature-wise more pleasant for us, or at least for me. On a personal level, I like South America very much so far.
I did not mention all the live shows of Ancient Rites latest years but please do it, what were your memorable ones and why.
- We also did shows last year in Austria, Germany and Belgium. It was nice to do some shows in Austria again after such a long time. The show in Belgium was very good. For me, all those shows are memorable, and always enjoyable but the show in Oberhausen, Germany stood out a bit more compared to the other shows. I think that we delivered a very good show and the German audience appreciated us very much. Among the predominantly German audience were also fans from Spain, The Netherlands and Belgium. To me, it felt great to play in Germany again. At the moment, our next show will be in Belgium again in April, and the fans from Belgium have always been very good to us. So I'm looking forward to that show. Last February, we did a great (sold out) show in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, in a venue called Baroeg. Ancient Rites has done at least ten shows in that venue. But it is the end of an era because it was the last show of us in this now “old” venue, 'cause this venue will be demolished this year, and on the same spot, a new venue will be build, where we of course, would love to be invited to do some shows again.
Dutch Pentacle played at their live show an Ancient Rites cover in 2021, namely “Longing for the Ancient Kingdom” for the memory of your bandmate Walter van Cortenberg (R.I.P.) and I must say they did a great job. What is your opinion about that?
- I like their version very much. I saw them playing “Longing For The Ancient Kingdom” twice. The first time, I saw them playing the version you probably saw on internet live at Schoonebeek Deathfest 2021, in The Netherlands during a time what was still the pandemic. Pentacle had invited Gunther to do a guest appearance but it was simply not possible for Gunther to come to this festival. The second time I saw Pentacle performing it in Arnhem, but this time with Gunther on vocals. We both played together again at the same gig. We did a lot of of shows together in the past. It was great to play together again and I hope that we will share the stage again more often.
Unfortunately Dutch Inquisitor closed its activity.. Without going deep to reasons, I just would like to ask, what are your most preferred tracks of Inquisitor?
- I prefer not talk about Inquisitor very much or even at all, for me it is a thing of the past now and it's over for good. Inquisitor is no more, and is put to rest forever. However I am very proud of the albums which we recorded, and to some people, our debut album “Walpurgis – Sabbath of Lust” is even seen as an underground classic. My favourite tracks of Inquisitor are definitely “Fallen Missionary”, “Damnation For The Holy”, “On a Black Red blooded cross”, “Consuming Christ”, “Hammering Rusty Nails” and “Holy Man Gallow's Pole”. Furthermore, without Inquisitor, I wouldn't be where I am today.
If I’ve meant Inquisitor.. I’m still very sad about the early departure of our common Brazilian friend Juliano Bonacini (R.I.P.) who was a huge Ancient Rites and Inquisitor fan. Please share some thoughts about him and his past band Lone Hunter.
- I didn't have much contact with Juliano, but in 2019, I did a great interview with him for Inquisitor in Lucifer Rising Magazine. Unfortunately, the interview is not on-line anymore, but I found the document of the interview added with my answers on my notebook, and based on his questions, he surely was a real Inquisitor fan and most likely also very much into Ancient Rites. The questions he asked, were really good. I can only guess, but he most likely meant a lot to the (Brazilian) metal scene and it's very sad that especially guys like Juliano are taken away from us too soon. I don't listen much to LoneHunter but I certainly enjoy listening to them sometimes. Their death metal has quite some brutal parts, but they also create some interesting atmospheric passages in their music.
What is the current situation with Plusminus? Do you have any plans to play live with that band in the near future?
- Plusminus was a little bit on the backburner for a short period but we are very much alive again. We are practicing on a regular basis, so everything is fine. We enjoy what we do very much. Plusminus will play a show in Baroeg, Rotterdam at the 31st of March. It's our first show since 2019. Furthermore, there are also two shows planned in our hometown in Harderwijk, but those are not confirmed yet. One show will probably take place in August.
Which Dutch bands and albums can you recommend us nowadays? What were your favourite LPs of 2023?
- I can always recommend Dead Head, but I also like Bodyfarm very much. Their latest album “Ultimate Abomination” from 2023 is very good. I have it on colored vinyl. Other Dutch bands I recommend are: Asphyx, Soulburn, Bloodphemy, Sammath, Heidevolk, Pestilence, Legion of the Damned, Sinister, Houwitser and God Dethroned but maybe the readers should check out some lesser known Dutch bands such as: Bloodmoon, Deathisfaction, Sadotank and Putrefied Corpse.
I don't buy much new releases but I like the Cavalera releases where they pay tribute to the very early Sepultura stuff, which is in fact no new music. Usually, in a lot of cases, re-recording old material doesn't work very well, but Cavalera did a very good job. I still don't have the Hellwitch - Annihilational Intercention album from 2023 but it's a very good return of Hellwitch for sure. I already checked this album on Spotify and I will make sure that I get that album in my collection. And I lately like Suicidal Angels (from Greece) very much. Suicidal Angels is a great thrash metal band I think. For this year I'm certainly looking forward to buy the new albums of Judas Priest, Suicidal Angels and Dead Head. Dead Head will soon release a new album called “Shadow Soul” I think. I like the new Suicidal Angels album “Profane Prayer” very much, and the new Judas Priest album “Invincible Shield” is a killer album. I'm listening to it right now. Priest recently launched a video of “The Serpent and the King” from their new album and that song is amazing. The Priest is certainly back! Oh, and Bodyfarm will also release something new soon I think.
Dank je wel Erik, it was a pleasure to talk to you again! I wish you all the best with Ancient Rites, Plusminus and your personal life. Send your message to the readers of Archangel’s Lantern to complete this conversation.
- Georgius, thank you very much for the interview again! Keep supporting underground metal and metal in general. I'm not the first one and also not the last one to say the following words: Keep metal (and also music in general) alive also by supporting (local) metal bands. Support the bands by buying their music and merchandise and most important, go to their shows. Thanks a lot to everyone who supported Ancient Rites during all those years. Thank you very much!
