CEREMONY

Ceremony are one of those old underground death metal bands from The Netherlands that never really got the attention they deserved. They only released one single album before their split in 1995: “Tyranny From Above” in 1993. Now they suddenly released a new album unexpectedly, and it turned out really great! “Retribution” is a timeless album which could have been released in the 90´s as well, without any modern sounds. If you still don´t know them, you should really check them out! Both albums are available from Vic Records in The Netherlands.

-Hi Peter! Please let us start from the very beginning: When and how did everything start with Ceremony?

I played in different (starting) death metal bands since the age of 19. Because I wanted to create my own style of death metal, I started looking for musicians who were willing and able to play the brutal technical death metal I had in mind. I had already written some songs. From that moment on everything went really fast. Our demo became ´demo of the month‘ in Aardschok (Dutch metal magazine) and soon our EP “Inclemency” and the CD “Tyranny From above” came. That is how it all started in the late eighties.

-Have you guys already played in other bands before?

No, not really. We all played in local thrash-/death metal bands before we started playing in Ceremony. After Ceremony broke up I played in Phlebotomized for a while.

-Which bands were your main influences?

It is difficult to give an answer to that question. Some people heard some influences of Sinister (“Cross The Styx”) in our album “Tyranny From Above”. I don’t know, I think there is not really a specific band we are influenced by. We all listen to different kind of metal bands. My favorite bands at this moment are Behemoth, Aborted, Dark Funeral, Carnifex, Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth and Cattle Decapitation

-What are your lyrics about? Is it only about fulfilling the typical death metal clichés? Or is there a certain message behind them?

Micha, our vocalist, writes all the lyrics. He tries to write dark lyrics about things he saw, thought or read about. For example, the “Retribution” lyrics are about what he would do to the person that (so called) abused his child. “Erilaz” is a song about the Old Nordic Rune master. The lyrics from “In A Dark Time” are about how you start to see the important things in life when you are in difficult times.

-In 1993, you released your glorious debut album “Tyranny From Above” on CD and cassette. How did you get in contact with your label Cyber Music back then?

Thank you for the compliment! Cenotaph records released our 7”EP “Inclemency”. They brought us in contact with Cyber Music.

-In 1995, after two demos, one album and a 7” EP, you suddenly split up. What were the reasons for that? Our drummer at that moment, Patrik van Gelder, had to quit he band because of personal circumstances. Unfortunately we were not able to find another drummer. It all took too long and Ceremony split up.

-After exactly 20 years, Ceremony reunited in 2015. What did you do in between? Were you still active in the scene?

I played in the death metal band Phlebotomized for a short while. After that I wasn’t active anymore in the scene.

-Three of the four original members are still in the band today. What about the former drummer Patrik van Gelder? Wasn´t he interested in a Ceremony reunion?

It seemed like Patrik disappeared from our planet. We could not find him, so we had to look for another drummer. By coincidence I found and spoke him recently. He still loves the music, but playing in a band does not fit in his life. And, of course, we do have a good drummer now.

-How did you get in contact with your new drummer Bas Dubbelman? He´s much younger than you, born in 1992! Did you know his previous bands Unseen Perception, Black Mesa Preservation Society and Chaosity before?

We got in contact with Bas Dubbelman through an internet site for musicians. He just had the right attitude and skills to come and play in Ceremony and bring down the average age of the band, hehe!

-Have you kept contact to all original members during the 20 years when Ceremony didn´t exist?

No. We all lived our lives separately.

-In 2016, there was a re-release of your debut “Tyranny From Above”. As bonus tracks the “Inclemency” EP from 1994 and the “Promo ´94” were featured. But what about the first demo “Victims Of Morbidity” from 1991? For collectors it would have been great to have all old stuff on one CD, and concerning the running time, it would have even fit on the CD. Didn´t you like the first demo anymore? Were the master tapes lost? Or were there other reasons for that?

To be honest, we did not consider it. But this year the demo will come out again on tape together with Retribution.

-Let´s talk about the new brilliant album “Retribution” too! For me, it sounds timeless! It could have been released in the 90´s as well? Were some of those songs already written before the split in 1995? Or have your musical influences just never changed?

Thanks again for the compliment! “Divinatory Rites” is the only song that was written before the split-up. All other songs are written afterwards. While playing some old songs in the rehearsal room, we have noticed too that some old songs were indeed timeless. So our plan is to record an old song from our second “Promo ´94” after “Tyranny From Above” on our third album.

-How much time did it take to write and record the songs?

Writing the songs went pretty fast. I think within one year we wrote all the songs from the “Retribution” album. From there it took about one year to record the songs. However, after we recorded all songs, our drummer left the band. Luckily we soon found a new drummer: Bas Dubbelman. His drumming gave the songs a different kind of groove, so we decided to re-record all songs.

-Where did you record the album, and who was the producer?

We recorded the album in our rehearsal room. The mixing/producing was done at home at our producer. So the circumstances were note really ideal. On the other hand: it is stressless, there was no time pressure. Our producer was Edwin van Wingerden (guitarist of Kurb Saatus). He did a great job!

-How did you get in contact with Vic Records who released the re-release of your debut and the new album?

Roel (Vic Records) is an old friend of mine. In 2015, he noticed there was still demand for our “Tyranny From Above” album. He proposed to re-master and to re-release the album.

-Do you also play live? And are there any plans to play some gigs in Germany as well maybe?’

Yes, we play live, about two times a month. Mainly in the Netherlands, but we have played also in the UK (Bristol and London) and in Belgium. We really would like to play in Germany. German metal heads are known as great audience. We are trying to find someone that has got the necessary contacts in Germany, so we can arrange some gigs.

-Let´s talk about the Dutch death metal scene as well because I´m a hugh fan of hordes like Asphyx, Soulburn, Grand Supreme Blood Court, Sinister, Thanatos, Gorefest, Delirium, Sempiternal Deathreign, Pentacle, Acrostichon, Pestilence, Altar, Beyond Belief, Temple, Extreme Cold Winter, Eternal Solstice, Etherial Winds, AntropomorphiA, Ophanage, old Celestial Season, old The Gathering, but also some new bands like Supreme Pain, Entrapment, Funeral Whore, Neocaesar, Ceremony Of Opposites etc. Have you been in contact with those bands, maybe already in the early days? And which other death metal bands from your country can you recommend?

The only band I am in contact with is Sinister. Aad (vocalist) is a good friend of mine. We recently played live with them too. Some other bands you mentioned we have played with live or have we seen live. But I think times are changed. In the days we were young we all gathered in the Blokhut (metal café Rotterdam) and talked about music, traded tapes, discovered new bands and drank a lot of beer. It was more personal then it is nowadays. We became an internet generation.

-Is there a real death metal scene in Nederland where bands support each other? Or is it more about ´rivalry´ in your country?

I don’t feel or experienced rivalry in our scene. But we do not really support each other neither. I guess it’s a sign of the time. We are all living our own lives.

-I really love your old school death metal that you still play today! What is your opinion the death metal development nowadays, like brutal death, technical death, blastbeats, triggered drums, modern productions and all that who have no spirit in their music (at least in my opinion? What do you think about this topic?

Death Metal has undergone a tremendous development. Overall it is a positive thing I think. The things some drummers do lately is really amazing. It made the music harder and more aggressive and I love it! Some polishing of the music is fine to me. On the other hand I think modern techniques can take out the soul off the music. But where do you draw the line? In my opinion: the music you have put on your album must match what you do live on stage. You need to stay credible.

-What are your future plans with Ceremony?

We are working on new songs for our third album. I truly believe this new songs will be even better than our current songs. Further on we really would like to play some more abroad (Germany) and at some larger festivals then we do now. Hopefully more people will discover Ceremony!

-Okay, Peter! The last words are yours!

Thank you for this interview and for giving us the possibility to promote our music. I really appreciate your love and dedication for the music. Keep up the good work, Daniel! Hope to see you when we play in Germany.

-Daniel Müller-