Gunther has always been interested in history so it's no surprise to find titles like "(Ode To Ancient) Europa" or "Lindisfarne" on "Dim Carcosa". I won't tell you any news that Lindisfarne was one of the most famous occurences concerning the Viking Ages. "Indeed. I waited for a long time to write anything about that part of European history. Actually I waited until the Viking trend was over. There was a period when every band, no matter where they came from, pretended to be Norwegian or Swedish. In that time I preferred to focus on different parts of European history or even non-European history. Now I see more and more that this wave has passed. I can do my own thing without jumping on a band wagon because if I would have done it due to that I would've been years too late. I only hope that people understand that I waited til the time was right to write about that particular part and not to gain anything or to be a part of anything. That never was our way."

The intro "Overture To The Sun" sounded pretty familiar to me as Blood Axis also used it for the track "Lord Of Ages" (This track can be found, for instance, on a compilation CD called "Mysteria Mithrae" which was released by Athanor/France.) "We always created our own intros except one which is on the "Diabolic Serenades" album. To create the impression that it's like an echo from beyond time we have put some extra echo and reverb on it so it sounds like being heard from very far away. Yes, I heard that Blood Axis did something with that classical theme, too, so it had been used not only once. That's why we don't do that any more. Since "Diabolic Serenades" we only have our own intros and classical parts. But I loved that theme so much that I wanted it to be in it. Originally "Overture To The Sun" is a part of a movie soundtrack, The Clockwork Orange, and was composed by Terry Tucker. The Clockwork Orange of Stanley Kubrick is the cult movie of the seventies!"

As I'm doing this interview also for the Brazilian magazine "A Obscura Arte" it was very interesting to hear that Ancient Rites have been approached to do a tour in South America. But this confronts a band with a lot of preparation and problems unknown so far... "We had talks about that for a long time but we got some offers of which we didn't know if they were good or not. I heard stories from friends of mine who stranded in South America. Like Rotting Christ once were invited but it was a one way ticket and the promoter never showed up. So they were stuck in Columbia and had to search for an European embassy that was willing to send them back home because they had no money. The Swiss embassy finally sent them back. We got so many offers from South America countries and I know people are enthusiastic there but it takes a lot of preparation to have it work. One guy sent me an offer for a very long tour, months on the road so I didn't know if the distances were realistic or not. Or the prices for flying from Chile to Argentina, taking a bus from Argentina to Peru... very weird. And you have to understand that it's very different for us to work in the climate there. We have a different metabolism and many musicians get sick because of the change of everything."

Back to the current tour. Gunther already told us that they got along great with Abortus. Mystic Circle were on the tour for about half of the shows, too, and as they're not really loved in Germany I wanted to know if the time with them was just as great. "Of couse, I hear what's going on but I got along very well with them which I didn't expect. I always approach people with an open mind to see how they are towards me, and towards us they have been very fine. We had good talks and lots of laughs together. I found it very positive that when you meet them in private they have a different way than what you might expect. So for us it was no problem but I know that they have a lot of people against them. Also some people are wearing shirts against them." Yep, I have to admit that I also own one of those shirts. I met Mystic Circle at the Folter Records festival in Brohm some years ago and my experiences with them were anything but positive. I have problems with approaching them with an open mind but I do not deny the possibillity that they have changed over the years. And their old drummer isn't with them any more. "Maybe it's a matter of age. Some people mature, others don't. I can only have an opinion on personal contacts. They were very down to earth to us. And there are members in the band who are more difficult than others. And sometimes a line-up can change but the harm which was done by an ex-member is still there. For instance, our ex-guitarist once said openly in an interview how much he disliked Cradle Of Filth and I still have to answer questions about that in interviews. I would never attack another band because it's not professional to do so. And you always meet everyone in the scene sooner or later. In the end it's a small scene and when you're long in the scene, as I am, eventually you meet everyone. We play at Graspop or Dynamo open air where you meet everyone from Metallica to Danzig to unknown Black Metal bands. Then it's annoying when an ex-member who has nothing to do with the band any more has put a statement which follows the band. Now - it was in the biggest Italian magazine that he said Cradle Of Filth are like children and he's happy the tour was over. Something I would never say. It was because he had a conflict with them. Later on that conflict was solved but he said that in an outburst because we were not allowed to have a soundcheck, we had drum problems and other technical things. But a person should think twice before he speaks. Some people obviously don't have the intelligence to be like that. In Italy everybody believes there's a bad thing going on between Ancient Rites and Cradle Of Filth and it's not. I'm not into the music, it's not my style but who am I to judge? For me they can be as popular as they are. They will have full clubs. I don't want to talk bad about it because it would appear like jealousy, you know, because we're a smaller band. And our drummer happens to like their music very much. Or recently I read an interview of a famous German band. I hated it so much but I will never speak out openly. And before I knew it we were invited to play together with them. You know, before I met Mystic Circle I thought the name "Graf von Beelzebub" is a bit strange. But then I meet the guy and I'm happy I never said anything about it because he was full of respect and shook my hand. And he talked about it that it's not good to be too extreme because it will get back to you and that they had a lot of problems with their old drummer. He showed me, let's say, a weaker part of themselves which I found amazing. Or the guitarist Stefan who said like "Actually we're a bit shitty sometimes but we do our best." which you don't expect. When I read some of their lyrics I was not impressed BUT then they have some good melodies and they're nice people so you can forgive more things. Unfortunately Mystic Circle had to pull out of the tour but Stefan simply stayed just to help us with the equipment and to have beers and jokes with us for the rest of the tour. And in the night we drink together and listen to Heavy Metal because we're older guys, he's also 35. We're listening to Judas Priest and Maiden and sing out loud like 40 years old Metal heads, drinking beers and then there's a friendship growing. No, it's definitely not up to me to judge people I've never met!!"

This was a very long answer but I didn't want to abridge it as I can only agree with Gunther as far as gossip in the scene is concerned. Now I felt it was time to ask something completely different and was curious about the last book Gunther read. "That's an interesting question because I'm a bit strange concerning that. I have been reading many books but I haven't finished any of them. When I go to sleep I always read a bit. And I have these books changing, coming and going, and many of them are dealing with history. I had one dealing with ancient Germanic history, the Nibelungen, Parcival and all that saga stuff, a nice volume with shorter stories. At the same time I had a historical work about the evolution of Constantinople into Istanbul. Now I found a book about a woman who follows the traces of Lord Byron who is one of my favourate writers. She has followed him on his travels when he went to Albania and parts of Greece." Hearing the name of Lord Byron I simply had to interrupt as I conce read a nice novel about Lord Byron being a vampire ("The Vampire" by Tom Holland). Unfortunately Gunther doesn't know it (yet). "However, I also like classics like "Wuthering Heights" (by Brontë), "they're timeless. I just saw another book which drew my attention but I haven't bought it yet. It is a fiction book playing with the difficulties in our country, since we have three cultural communities in Belgium. Sometimes there are tensions between us, and this writer describes the situation like if it escalates into a civil war, taking the known places and politicians we have. He uses real cities and places and things that could be, like half fiction and half reality. It's quite a big hit in Belgium because this could be the worst case in our area if everything explodes. As you know I live in a medieval place in Diest. Actually it's a medieval monastery, some kind of abbey place which is fortified. And every month there's a book market where I often have the chance to find second hand books. I buy so many things, you know, but whenever I see historical matters I go for those first. But in the end my favourate literature is poetry. Like Byron stuff or, yes, William Blake. There are so many writers and my mind is so full with so many different things. I read parts, and I feel hungry so I want to read more but then I have the lack of time. I have to deal with deadlines and interviews, receive so many letters every day and there are hundreds of mails that I have to take care of. I play in four different bands and I am the contact person."

Besides Ancient Rites and Danse Macabre there are also Lion's Pride, some kind of street punk thing, and Iron Clad which is Folk Heavy Metal. "So - as I said - I'm busy with four bands, and for all of them I am the contact person. I have part of my books here and I don't know where to start fist. And my old friends are complaining because I don't know when to write letters. I didn't forget any of them but... While I was on this tour I had to sign contracts and people had to come somewhere half the tour so the procedure could continue and the Iron Clad album can be released in a few months. They were all waiting for my signature but I wasn't at home so I couldn't do it then. Stuff like this is stress. I really feel I'm a stressed person now, feeling my adrenaline constantly rushing. There are so many things I want to do, so many books I want to read but life is so short. And when I'm sitting on the tour bus I feel so frustrated because I can't do anything constructive. You can't really make songs as there's too much noise and you can't really read as you're too distracted or tired. You can't do interviews because I don't have the money to buy a laptop now and it would be lacking of power, anyway, as the power is not working. So I feel quite useless while I'm travelling now. As we travel at night I don't see anything of the landscapes, and then, when I want to sleep the light of my bunk is broken so I cannot read at night. It's like a punishment in a way. But it's okay for we do it for the six people who were banging their heads. Today was one of the worst days we ever had."

This is something I'll never understand as Ancient Rites haven't been playing in or near Berlin for several years now!!! So HOPEFULLY there'll be more people when they come back some day... Hey, and don't forget to check out the Ancient Rites website, of course.