As the gig in Potsdam was one of the last dates of the tour it was time to reflect on the experiences so far and how Ancient Rites went along with Abortus. "The tour was very good as Abortus are really nice people to hang out with. I didn't know the band before but I really think they play nice Death Metal. They are nice people and they have this peculiar sense of humour to which I relate so we have a lot of fun together. It's like friends. Concerning the tour we had good days and we had bad days. A lot of bad days actually. In Milan we got caught in a storm so the gig was cancelled because there were too many accidents. We were there, everything was ready to play but the promoter cancelled the show because perhaps she was involved in a car crash as well. And only very few people could make it to the show. So they said it's better to cancel it. We wanted to play, anyway, but it was the decision of the tour promoter. Then we had problems with the heating. There were nights with temperatures like 19 degrees Celsius below zero and even the water on the bus was frozen. It was quite hard and we all got sick but we decided to continue no matter what. No matter if there are thousands of people or twenty, we find it worth to go on. On the whole the tour has been good so far but my opinion is that it's been quite difficult. When you don't have a strong, famous tour package it's very difficult to draw people, especially during the week. The weekends were cool, though. Then we had larger numbers but sometimes you play in the middle of nowhere in the Czech Republic on a Tuesday evening, like 50 kilometers away from the city, somewhere in the fields which is not ideal. So location is important as well. And package because I think our names are a bit too underground to draw large crowds." This is weird as Ancient Rites have been around for quite some years now so people should actually know them. "That is true but I have this feeling that in the old days, as you remember, people came out more easily. When one band came they all showed up to see it and they also wanted to check out the unknown support act. Today there's this overkill of tours. While we are on tour now you have Cannibal Corpse and Marduk and Dark Funeral and you have Kreator on tour. I also saw the announcements for Destruction. I saw posters everywhere, from different tours. Also Ancient were on tour in the same period of time and I do think it's an overkill. I guess the mentality of the people has changed, too, compared to the old days. Many people are probably out of the scene. And strangely enough we sell ten times more than back in those days. But we had ten times more people back then. It depends, of course. When we played in Israel recently we had full house, or when we go to Greece or Portugal it's full house. But when you play in the week, in the middle of nowhere, it's not so good. My experiences and feelings are mixed about it. Some days were good, some quite bad. I hear it from many tours that it's like that. Many bands were even sent home, the tours got cancelled. At least we are lucky that we can continue because there are some good days inbetween. For underground bands it's quite hard as people are more interested in the mainstream, big names and big packages. And when there are two or three shows within one week they want to see gig with the most bands which is more economical instead of going to a gig three times a week as they used to do."

For quite some time Ancient Rites have been having five members now so I wanted to know if there is an equal participation of each member in creating new songs. And compared to the old days things have changed, there are advantages as well as difficulties with the actual line-up. The main difficulty "is the distance. We live far away from each other. Another difficulty is that we all have different musical tastes. We don't agree on any band. When we listen to something what one guy likes the other guy hates. Or what the drummer says is fantastic I find crap. Or when I come with an album of which I say it's brilliant... It never happens that all the five of us agree on one band. It's a miracle in a way that we're working together but somehow it works. On the other hand I see it as an advantage because this way we won't sound like anyone else. And we do our own thing. Everyone has an equal input when we work. Any idea is good and accepted but, of course, we all have to agree more or less. And sometimes we also have to give in to each other. There are parts that one guy likes more than the other guy, it's like a marriage actually. We are five different people with different tastes but we do quite well. In the beginning it was more difficult because you have certain expectations and you're not used to do water with the wine as the expression goes. As years passed we got to know each other that well that we know what to expect, how to deal with each other and when it's time to avoid a conflict or when it's time to come together. It's like in a marriage that gets better when you work on it."

The album title "Dim Carcosa" reminds of the lake of Hali, The Yellow Sign, The King In Yellow and authors like Lovecraft, James Blish, Robert W. Chambers and also Ambrose Bierce. This influence simply can't be overlooked... "Of course, I found it so interesting that I saw this connection between those writers and also the meeting of history, fantasy, mythology and just everything. Indeed, it's Chamber's work and Lovecraft that inspired me to play with Carcosa. But I wouldn't have done it if it were the only aspect. Carcosa, and this is also very interesting, is linke to Carcassonne which is the biggest medieval fortress in Europe. And in that fortress it was a city which was dominated by the Catharian cult in the Middle Ages. Also the Knights Templar were active there. So there were many unsolved things going on there. From the historical point of view it was an important stratetic place in medieval Europe. I just couldn't resist the word with that concept because so many worlds are coming together here. Therefore I found it so appealing and typically fitting to work with these different elements."