In Summer 1989, Chris Anderle and FJK began to gather musicians who were able to express their moods and emotions through the creation of litanies of dark music. Ancient Ceremony became a reality when several members (partly sessionists) joined the band to complete the line-up under the Winter Moon of 1991. In 1993 the first successful step into the international underground was done with the "Where Serpents Reign" demo. Here began the formation of the band's musical identity, with gloomy but powerful guitars, atmospheric keyboards and brutal vocals. The band began their live appearances in June 1992 with performances with bands such as In Flames, Absu and Impaled Nazarene following. February 1994 saw the recording of the "Cemetary Visions" mini CD, a dark aria of infernal dreams. This was limited to 500 units and distributed by the band themselves. It has since been re-pressed by Alister Records and got distributed worldwide. Ancient Ceremony signed to London based Cacophonous in late December 1996 and their debut album, "Under Moonlight We Kiss", was released there in Autumn 1997 (01.09.). Here, they have realised the concept of a dark Gothic epic played out in Vamypric symphonies. It is a truly unusual release as the Devil's chord of Monteverdi, forbidden by the Church during the middle ages, is used in the vocal composition. Their second album on Cacophonous, "Fallen Angel's Symphony", (released 22. February 1999) hails a new line up for the band and leans more towards the Extreme Metal genre. The lyrics are centered around the philosophies of Satanism and Occultism along with Mythology, as Vocalist/Lyricist Chris Anderle is influenced by a.o. Crowley's "Book of the Law". The album was mixed in the reknowned Danse Macabre studios (who have also spawned albums by acts such as Atrocity and Theatre of Tragedy) with Bruno Kramm (Das Ich) - a collaboration that has led to a truly eerie atmosphere. There two chantresses were used, again adding to the opulence of the album. As inspiration Ancient Ceremony cite darkness, the true Satanic philosophy, darker aspects of sexuality/eroticism and devilish decadence. Literature is a great form of inspiration too, especially works on Satanism, occultism or mythology respectively from a.o. Nietzsche, de Sade, Byron and Crowley. Musically, Ancient Ceremony favour Swedish Death Metal (Therion, At the Gates), melodic Heavy Metal (Iron Maiden, King Diamond), Slayer (especially "Reign in Blood"), "modern" Metal like Cradle of Filth or Children of Bodom, certain classical composers (mainly Mozart and Beethoven), dark stuff in the vein of Diamanda Galas and horror movie soundtracks (Devil's Advocate, Dracula, Omen etc.).....all elements pertaining to superior Satanic darkness! Ancient Ceremony have recently played with Dimmu Borgir, Moonspell and Therion to name but a few, and will continually be performing live extensively through Europe to promote all their outputs and compositions on stage. Ancient Ceremony - Metal the dark, extreme and Satanic way!
After the cult-MCD "Cemetary Visions" and the worldwide successful albums "Under Moonlight We Kiss" (1997) and "Fallen Angel's Symphony" (1999; both out on Cacophonous) Ancient Ceremony now release their brandnew work "Synagoga Diabolica" on Alister Records. Faithful to their motto "There is no real Art without the Influence of the Devil" one of Germany's longest existing formations in Black/Death Metal manages even better than before to combine diverse styles of Metal to a closed union. With their best output so far regarding the compositions and also the sound Ancient Ceremony go definitely "back to their roots" which are located in a mixture of extreme Metal with dark horror-elements. The cooperation with Alister Recs. and numerous line up changes in the nearer past are able to state this "way back" as well as the fact that not only Metallica's cultsong "Creeping Death" but also an own classic ("Choir of immortal Queens") got a new interpretation on this epic. Lyrically "Synagoga Diabolica" deals on a high level with different facets of Satanism, such as mythological, poetical, historical, modern or philosophical ones. Vocalist Chris has been in contact with several international Satanic organisations and lodges for some years now which has a favourable effect on his lyrics. Running 28:08 minutes the album is settled between EP and longplay (and will be sold for a special price) but manages to fulfill its main intention, namely to shorten the time until the third full-length will be released. Moreover the fans shall already get a better impression on how the "new" Ancient Ceremony sound nowadays respectively what can be expected from them in the future. The dark, opulent booklet is another argument for this release and this trinity, consisting of music, lyrics and artwork is to be seen as a very important aspect in the band's concept. The presentation of "Synagoga Diabolica" on stage has already begun and is set to be continued throughout the whole year at single gigs and festivals in Germany and some neighboured countries. A European tour couldn't yet be confirmed but is definitely intended to be done.

From www.tartareandesire.com