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 First
of course the obligatory, please fill us in on the necessary history of
Pentacle prior to releasing the “Winds Of The Fall” demo? Have you recruited
any members of Pentacle from other bands?
The band started in winter 1989. The first time it was just our guitarist
Mike and me. We came form a small village and at that time there was almost
no fans of extreme music, so when we saw somebody walking with a heavy shirt
and studs, it was something rare. I met Mike several time and said “Hi”, to
him, but we never talked with each other. At a certain moment we met each
other and started talking. I found out he liked the same bands that I did,
we talked about all kinds of bands like Celtic Frost, Death, Messiah,
Destruction, Slayer ect ect…So now we knew each other better and started
to tape each other’s collection. Mike also told me he played guitar and
wanted to form a band, but he didn’t know the right people. I said I wanted
to give it a try and as I didn’t play an instrument I would do the vocals.
So that’s where we started. We started to write songs together, and
sometimes I took the bass also. I always liked the idea of me doing bass and
vocals so I bought a guitar and started practicing. The first song I started
playing was Frost’s “Dethroned Emperor”. At the time I also did a radio
program called “Thrashing Madness”, we played really underground stuff like
the demos of bands like Morbid Angel, Entombed, Immolation, Messiah,
Asphyx, Treblinka, Carnage, Samael, ect. I knew this guy Marc and he
played drums so I asked him to come over and hear our material. So Mike and
me played him our songs plus Hellhammer’s “Triumph Of Death”,
including the insane vocals. Today Marc still admits he was totally blown
away by the vocals and from that moment he joined the band. Together we
completed the songs Mike and me had written and at the same time we started
writing material as a 3 piece. In 1992 we wanted to record the songs that
were ready. Mike had some friends that were running a PA company and he
asked them to record our songs in our rehearsal room. I remember it was
pretty cold but we managed to do it. The songs we recorded were: “A Mind In
Flames”, “Son Of The Dawn”, “Belief From Below”, “Denial Of God”(our first
song ever written), and Hellhammer’s “The Reaper”. After the recording we
weren’t satisfied with it, the guitars lacked power and the vocals were too
growling. We first had the idea to release it, but because we weren’t
satisfied with it we didn’t do it. However Mike started to record the tape
for several interested people and they were pretty positive about it. After
a couple of weeks the demand became bigger and as naïve as we were we
decided to release it. It got the title “Caressed By Both Sides” rehearsal
and we sold about 100 copies of it. At the time we did our first gigs with
bands like Gorefest and Asphyx. At the gig with Asphyx
we put on warpaint just like Frost did in their old days. You have to
remember almost no bands did that at this time except bands like Mayhem,
Bestial Summoning, Grotesque, Treblinka and some more. It was not to
create a black metal feeling but more to give our music a more visual
aspect. So that’s where it all started.
The sound on
“Winds Of The Fall” is so classic! Totally primordial which has worked well
into what you are doing today Do you agree? How did this demo do for the
band? Were you happy with the tape?
Yes the sound on the demo is very honest. Very basic yet powerful. It was
our first studio experience. At the time I was really impressed by
Acrostichon’s “Dehumanized” demo(me too -Keith), concerning the sound. I
wanted to record in the same studio as well. So when the time came I called
the studio and booked it 2 days to record and mix our demo. We recorded it
in the RS 29 studio. Everything went pretty well, except for the first song
“Buried In Mankind’s Sleep”. Marc had some trouble with the drums, he
couldn’t play it right. You can hear that just listen to the drum intro.
Mike and I were so fucked up, and we didn’t want to do it again and the rest
of the song is played well. So we decided to leave it this way. There were
also some guest vocals on the song “My Fall”, do you know the Dutch Dead
End?. Well I was really into their music and we were (and are still)
good friends. When we were about to record our demo we I asked Micha to join
me on that particular song and he did. We really did our best concerning the
layout, it cost us a lot of money but I still think it was worth it, it
still looks great!. We sold about 600 copies of it. We got a very good
response from the crowd. Of course there were some people that didn’t like,
like a guy from Poland who thought we were 10 years too late with our music,
but the major part was very enthusiastic about it. It gave us a name about
being a very old fashioned death metal band in the vein of Celtic Frost,
Hellhammer and Possessed with some influences from Asphyx
which I agree. Through the demo we got many interesting gigs to play
with bands like Anathema, Ancient Rites, Occult, Mangled and more. I
agree that our first demo is/was a good foundation for what we do today. We
still play songs off of it and our next release will feature a new version
of the song “Deepness Of The Depths”. The demo directed our way to what we
do today, yet in a more embryonic way. Of course we matured a lot but the
demo did it’s job. The only thing I don’t like much anymore are the vocals,
but at the time I couldn’t do better, so there is no need to put them down,
it’s just the way it was!. It also gave us an opportunity to record and
exclusive track for the DSFA compilation CD part 6. Anthony like our demo
very much and he was putting another comp together he wanted us too. For
this purpose we recorded “A Dance Beyond”. The CD was successful, it
featured only unreleased tracks and we did 2 DSFA festivals which were cool
as well!.
How did the
deal with Displeased Records to do “The Fifth Moon” MCD come about? How has
it been selling
and how has the overall reaction been from the press community? Are you
going to tour in support of it?
Some time back Reaper Records wanted to release a 12” of us. I don’t know if
you know this label, but he (Gunther Crass) released the Morbid 12”,
the Acheron 7” and he did together with Wim (from Midian Creations)
the Sathanas 7”. He already wanted to release the 12” right after the
demo, but we thought it was too early to do it. First we wanted to get more
well known in the underground, after the ep we thought we were ready for it,
so we talked about it with Gunther and he thought the time was ready for it
as well. They (Displeased) heard about our plans of doing a 12” and asked
if they could do the CD version as they liked the show and the material. We
asked Gunther about it and he said it was okay, but again after some time he
quit, maybe he didn’t like the idea of Displeased doing the CD version. At
that time there would only be the CD version. We were very disappointed
about these happenings, because we felt left on our own. Vinyl is for us
very important and far more interesting than a CD and at the time it wasn’t
there!. At the same time Jeroen of Damnation Records heard our advance tape.
He heard of our problems and liked our material a lot. He offered us a deal
to release “The Fifth Moon” on picture disc 12”. We agreed and that is what
happened. The picture disc has been released as a limited edition of 525
copies with a bonus track and a different layout. You can also find a photo
sheet with all kinds of cool pictures. Just like the old days. The picture
disc has been sold out for quite some time. About the CD, I don’t have the
right amount, but I guess it’s about 2000 copies. Not bad, but not good
either. The reactions have been very good except for some in Norway like
Nordic Vision. They totally ripped us apart, except for the production
nothing was good. Okay that’s their opinion (even though it is a DEAD WRONG
opinion -Keith), but almost everybody thinks that “The Fifth Moon” is a very
good release. Even some major magazines like Rock Hard from Germany liked
it, HA!. Anyway the underground press has been very supportive. I’m glad
they see us not as a new trying to be part of the new “back to the 1980’s”
wave, but recognize us as a band that is trying to do their own thing since
1989. There are some bands pretending to do the same, but lucky enough the
people in the underground notice what we are doing (And that we do Wannes
-Keith). Last year we did a small tour with our friends of Ancient Rites.
We played in countries like Holland, France, Germany and Belgium. We had
some bad luck because Cradle Of Filth and In The Woods were
touring at the same time, as they are more popular they got better promotion
for their tours. This had a negative influence over our tour, but I am glad
we did it. It was a great time together with Ancient Rites and we met
cool people, I am proud to say every gig we did was a good one!.
Are you happy with the outcome of “The Fifth Moon”? What are each of the
songs about? Especially my favorite “Black At Heart”!!!. The MCD is a
multi-media disc, can you tell us what we will find if we load it into the
computer?
Yes I am still very satisfied with “The Fifth Moon”, as well the CD as the
picture disc. Both products looks and sounds professional. The change of
studios did us well, I like Harrow Productions very much!. The sound is more
brutal yet clear. As always there are some minor details I would like to
change some additional reverb to the vocals, they sound a bit too “dry” in
my opinion. What I dislike the most is the photo collage in the picture disc
has been screened. You can see that too well and I don’t like that. It could
have been better but there is nothing we can do about it. If I could change
one thing I would get rid of the ROM part, it’s superfluous in my eyes. What
can you see on it?. A photo, a logo and a biography, furthermore a not
working Displeased catalog. The most annoying thing is that you can read in
reviews it is not working. It doesn’t interest me but I don’t like it if
half of the review goes on about the ROM part that doesn’t work. The music
is most important not the ROM part. We didn’t have anything to do with it
and if we had some input we would have made it far more interesting. I am
still pissed off about this but I guess we have to deal with it. You asked
about the content of the songs. Well they deal with things I have
experienced in my life. Emotions, happenings, visions ect…Very personal
stuff. I put everything in a very symbolic way, so it’s hard for someone
else to understand what I am writing about. The whole thing is a concept. On
the front cover you can see the 4 elements: water, earth, fire and air, but
there is a fifth element, the state of the mind/soul. The four elements are
connected with the four moons while the fifth element concerns the rest of
the drawing. The woman, the serpent, the triangle ect…The whole thing fits
into each other you know. “Black At Heart” is of course part of it. The
lyrics are dealing with a rather weird story/ vision. It would be difficult
to explain here, I can tell you it’s really obscure.
I know you
have had some line-up trouble could you fill us in on what has been the
problem? What happened to Edwin? Will you continue as a 3 piece?
Well as you know by now our second guitarist Edwin has left the band at the
beginning of the year. There were no personal problems, definitely not!. The
problem was this- we rehearsal in the south of the country, near Eidenhoven
well as Edwin lives more in the northwest part, he had to travel quite a lot
to visit our rehearsal room. . In hours it was about 4 to come here and go
home all in one evening. He’s working and it took a lot of his time which he
apparently couldn’t afford. Also we are playing often live, we like that,
but Edwin felt it was too much strain. His motivation went down because he
had to put to much time to the band. You couldn’t see that on stage because
he really gave his best to give an extreme live show. When your not willing
to give time one can better stop and that was what Edwin did, he quit. It’s
really a pity because he is really a cool guy and a good guitarist. I spent
last weekend at his place and we had a great time. Again there are no hard
feelings towards him. He is busy with a new project more in the thrash vein,
I heard a couple of the new songs and they are really good, so I wish him
the best!. So we’re a three piece again. Well it definitely works out well
for us. We are experienced enough to pull it through. It’s pretty difficult
to find the right member for the band. We want someone who has been in the
scene for quite some time and must have experienced the good old days. He
must know what he’s talking about. I know some guitarists who could fit in
Pentacle, but they are in other bands, so…I guess we will stay a
three piece.
I have heard
your cover of Hellhammer’s “The Reaper”, what recording is that from and
when was it recorded? Do you do any other covers? What are some covers you
would like to or plan to do?
 As
you can read the first time we recorded “The Reaper” was during the
rehearsal recordings. We wanted to do “Buried And Forgotten” but as I didn’t
have the lyrics for the songs we decided to do “The Reaper”. So you can find
it for the first time on the rehearsal. The song really became part of the
band. We often played it as an encore and the crowd was very wild during
this song. We wanted to record it again, but now in the studio to check out
how the song would be with a good production. The “Satanic Rites” demo is of
course, TOTAL GODLY (I agree -Keith), but the production is not that good,
although this became a important part of the atmosphere the demo has(right
again my friend -Keith). Anyway we wanted to record it in a studio. We
already wanted to do it during the recording of the DSFA track, but there
wasn’t enough time left so we couldn’t make it. Then when we recorded the 7”
we wanted to try it again, but due to the above mentioned reason it failed
again. By the way it was more to check out this song in the studio
environment, more for ourselves and not another reason. When the time was
ready to record the 12” we wanted to make a bonus track for the vinyl
version, it didn’t take long to decide which one it would be. Yep, “The
Reaper”! So you can find it on the picture disc. For this purpose I wrote
Tom Warrior and asked his permission to record this song, but I never heard
from him. I know he got the letter… Maybe it’s stupid of me, but I know how
he thinks of Hellhammer, but he could have had the decency to write
back. Oh well we like the song very much and that is very important. Live,
the song really kills, because of it’s simplicity. At our gigs there are
always people asking for this song. I don’t find this a negative thing,
because it’s a classic song. I guess I would do the same. HA! There is a
little story connected to the version on the picture disc. At the end song
you can hear me scream “Deathcrush”. I’m talking about Mayhem right?
It has the following reason. At the same time I was recording my vocals my
friend Bob(Asphyx(Gods!! -Dale) R.I.P.) was also there. The recording
studio we used for “The Fifth Moon” is also where they recorded albums like
“The Rack”, “Last One On Earth” and “God Cries”. They rehearsed there as
well. Anyway Bob was there with his girlfriend Marleen and we talked the
whole time about Mayhem and the gigs Asphyx were supposed to
do with them in 1990. So at the end of “The Reaper” we have a kind of chaos
part. Suddenly the word “Deathcrush” came through my mind is the reason it
made it onto record. We play all kinds of covers. Today we are playing
Destruction’s “Antichrist” on gigs, but most times it is something from
Hellhammer or Celtic Frost . We did “Messiah”, “Into The
Crypts Of Rays”, “Procreation(Of The Wicked)”, “Return To The Eve” and “The
Usurper” but in our rehearsal room we did a lot more Hellhammer/Celtic
Frost covers. But also some other stuff like Messiah, Mayhem, Slayer,
Samael and more. It’s not like we spend whole rehearsals concerning this
stuff, but sometimes it’s cool to do. Oh we played Slaughter’s “Tales
Of The Macabre” and Death’s “Zombie Ritual” too. I have numerous
ideas concerning covers, when Edwin was still in the band we wanted to do
Treblinka’s “Severe Abomination”, but it never made it. I would really
like to do a Necrovore track, maybe “Slaughtered Remains”. Yes that
would be a cool one. I am very much into Necrovore(I hear that!! -Dale).
They did very intense stuff. I heard they are back in business and don’t
live in Texas anymore(They are back in business but I think they are still
in Texas!?! -Dale). I’m curious what the future will bring us!.
Speaking of
which, one cannot miss the Necrovore shirt you are wearing on the back of
the MCD. What do you think of the new trend of reverting back to the 1980’s
sound? Bands like Bewitched, Arch Enemy ect…What do you thin of these bands?
Who are you listening to a lot these days?
I’m listening to all kinds of bands today, of course old GODS like
Possessed, Destruction, Nasty Savage, Necrophagia, Messiah, Protector
and Onslaught, but also a lot of newer stuff, I really like
Destroyer 666 (me too! -Keith) their new album is fucking great!. I am
listening to Cianide, Warhammer(Ger), Grotesque, Occult, Celestial Pain,
Emperor, Abominator, Sadistic Intent, Vulpecula, Ancient Rites, Scepter,
Desaster, Ungod, Eternal Solstice, Asphyx, Equinox(Usa), Aurora Borealis,
Mortem, Necrophobic, and many more. It’s only metal I’m listening to, I
guess I am too narrow minded to listen to other bands(Wannes my metal
brother you are not alone with this! -Dale). About the new wave, I don’t
know how the situation in the states is concerning this new movement, but
here in Europe it seems how better you rip-off an old band, the faster you
get a record deal. It’s really strange. Just take a band like Inferno(Einar
is a friggin’ wimp!- a very pissed off -Keith). If you know your old gods
can’t tolerate something like this it’s just too much you know. If your
being influenced by a band that’s okay, we too have our influences, but if
you are stealing riff after riff… That’s not okay!. I really like something
like Warhammer . As I said they are a total Hellhammer clone,
but these guys know this band from 1984 so they know what they are talking
about. It’s their goal to sound just the same and they succeeded very well.
But on the other hand there are already labels that went to sign them (I’ve
heard they are signed to Voices Productions from Germany -Keith). I can
understand that but in a way it’s weird you know?. It’s a strange situation
but it’s happening. You can see all kinds of bands that are playing this
kind of metal again. In a way it’s cool, the bands are getting more
recognition and they deserve it!. But there are a lot of new bands that are
pretending to be something they’re not, It’s a bit difficult to explain. Let
me put it this way… For me the 1980’s are sacred and I really worship those
days, but I don’t like if somebody is messing up the whole thing. If they
don’t handle the old days with respect they can fuck off!!!! (I
think Wannes has just summoned up how I feel too completely! -Dale).
Bands like Inferno are nothing more than a joke to me (me too -Keith). I
can’t take such a band serious. Bewiched is much better, although
they tend to steal a lot, but at least they try to make it more interesting
by using some of their own ideas. As always there are good and bad bands.
Most times I like them, but often I can’t get rid of the feeling it’s just
another “trendy”. You can also see a lot of bootlegs circulating in the
scene. Bands like Mayhem, Morbid, Celtic Frost, Venom and
Sodom
and many more are victims of this business. I really dislike this money
making business but there is nothing much to do about it other than making
the public knowledgeable.
Tell us
about your side project Soulburn. Which members of Asphyx are in it and how
can we obtain a copy of your demo?
Soulburn started after the demise of the great Asphyx. As I knew Bob
really well and we already had another project (Thy Infernal) we
talked about doing another one. We asked Eric to join and with this line-up
we recorded the demo 1996 at the end of last year with me on bass and
vocals. It contains 2 songs and a intro/outro. The style is in the old
Asphyx (dude I need to hear that! -Keith) vein. More like “The Rack” or
“Last One On Earth” with some cool ancient influences. It was recorded at
Harrow Productions. It was a pretty limited release so if somebody wants to
try and get it try tape trading!!!. We’ll probably release a 12” on
Damnation Records. It’ll contain 3 new tracks and a cover of a famous
underground band. Just wait and see!. I don’t know when we’ll start to
record the 12” because we have some troubles with the guitarist. We’ll see.
Please fill
us in on the merchandise of Pentacle!.
We
have full-color T-shirts and longsleeves available for both $15 and $18. On
the front is “The Fifth Moon” drawing and on the back is the logo and photo
of the band. Soon we’ll have new shirts. Really underground, but I can’t
tell you about it because we are still busy with it!. The CD is obtainable
through my address for $10 US. About the picture disc, I don’t have any
copies left. Maybe you could find it in some mailorders, but I guess it will
be hard to get.
Any final
words of wisdom my friend?
Well Keith I want to thank you very much for this interesting interview. I
hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, keep up the good work and good luck
with Eternal Darkness, I would like to greet some friends like Chuck of
Vulpecula, Bay and Sadistic Intent, Sephiroth and Occult,
All and Desaster, Ungod, Ancient Rites and many more. Keep the
ancient flame burning!!!!!!!!!. Write: Pentacle, c/o Wannes Gubbels, Franse
Hoef 17, 5531 PD Bladel, HOLLAND.
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