Hey pals, last year your debut album "A Sign Of Things To Come" was released by the Swedish cult label I Hate Records! How has this album been accepted by the fans and media and according to you what significance does this album have for Centurions Ghosts career up to now?

Rich: Hi Tobi, thanks for the interview fella. Yes it was quite a big step for us to release our debut album and the response we have had has been amazing! So far A Sign Of Things To Come has been a total success with both the press and metal underground. The album is already into its third pressing which is pretty good considering A Sign Of Things To Come was released just over 8 months ago.

And when you put "A Sign Of Thinds To Come" in your player now and give it a spin, are you still satisfied with it or would you have changed several things with hindsight?

Rich: Absolutely 100% satisfied. We wanted a real dirty, gnarled bass heavy production to accompany the brutal music contained on the album. Also the album in its entirety works as a whole which is another aspect we intended on, furthermore the length of the album was intentionally short as the title of the album suggests it is A Sign Of Things To Come.

After the recording of the album your frontman James Begley had to leave the band? Please let us know the reasons for the split and also introduce his successor Mark Scunt to us?

Rich: James and the band were drifting apart in many ways, finally it came to the crunch and it was either split the band or continue without James, as you can imagine this wasnt an easy decision to make. Me and James formed Centurions Ghost and we were best of friends, unfortunately since the split things havent been exactly rosy between us. Our new vocalist Mark has a very different approach, his style is very aggressive and powerful which puts a whole new perspective on the bands sound this is something we are all very excited about. Since Mark joined Centurions Ghost he has contributed a hell of a lot towards the lyrics and the music which is something we didnt really have with James. Ive heard through the grape vine that James is in the process of forming a new band but Im not aware of any other details other than that. We wish him every success with his new band and we will do anything we can to help him achieve his ambitions and hopefully one day we can cross swords on the road again.

Your second album "The Great Work" is already in the making. Can you already give us a little info on the songs and titles and maybe name a concrete release date?

Rich: Well, The Great Work will pick up where A Sign Of Things To Come left off. As the title suggests A Sign Of Things To Come was simply a taster of where CG is headng. For example, The Great Work will feature slow and gravid doom tracks like Let Sleeping Corpses Die and Wormfood up tempo metal such as Walking Through Walls and In Defiance and more technical songs such as Bedbound In The House Of Doom and Dawn Of A New Horizon. We are using two tunings now C and G (dyou get it?) so the songs will have more variety in that sense also the ambient soundscapes and acoustic numbers will be there along with one or two very different sounding tracks which I am sure will please the metal community. Up to now we have almost an hour of material and we are still writing so who knows maybe it will be a double album??? We will have to see how things pan out. Either way we are all very excited by the new material, it is fresh, progressive and VERY FUCKING HEAVY! With regard to release date, I would guess itd be ready by September/October time but that is only a rough guess. We are currently looking into studios, producers etc so as soon as we have the material ready well record the bugger and get it out there.

As far as I know, your debut album is only availible on CD. Will your new album be a CD only release as well or will it also be released on vinyl?

Rich: Being a record collector I would love to get all our releases pressed and released on vinyl. I guess its up to how big a demand there is for it, maybe if everyone harasses I Hate about it they will look into pressing A Sign Of Things To Come and 'The Great Work' Id certainly buy a copy or two! haha

One thing thats a bit sad about "A Sign Of Things To Come" is the fact, that no lyrics were printed in the booklet!! Will you change this for "The Great Work"? And if not, is there at least a possibility of finding the texts on your website someday?

Rich: It is a shame we didnt include the lyrics on A Sign Of Things To Come however will will include lyrics on The Great Work and we are currently putting together a new website which will feature all the lyrics from A Sign Of Things To Come. Furthermore, we have a rough demo of In Defiance on our myspace site (www.myspace.com/centurionsghost) and we have added the lyrics to that there too.

In the last weeks you've been on the road with your label mates Fall Of The Idols and played some shows all across Europe... I was lucky enough to catch this awesome Old school Metal package in Itzehoe and witness and fantastic gigs by both bands!! What memories do you connect with this tour and what funny, strange or interesting anecdotes can you tell about it?

Rich: Yeah we had a fantastic time with the FOTI guys, we have many, many funny stories too! One of which was when we arrived in Itzehoe the night before the gig we stayed in the local Youth Hostel. That night we went out for a few beers with the legendary Zuelle and when we got back about 1am the Youth Hostel was closed so all 11 of us climbed about 10 metres up the side of the building and broke into a door on the balcony of the Youth Hostel! Haha We were all fairly pissed and stoned and there were no lights at all, how the fuck none of us got injured I will never know!

When will we be able to see you again on German stages? Since youve been on tour here two times in not even 12 months, Im sure we dont have to wait too long until we meet you again, do we!?

Rich: We fuckin love playing Germany! It is probably the best place for a metal band to play. You guys have the spirit the out and out dedication and love for metal, which is something that lacks in many of the places we have played in the past. In fact Id go as far to say Germany is the world capital of metal!!! Also you have the best beer in the world, fuck wed even consider relocating out there if youd have us! So if you guys want CG to come play Germany just give us a shout and well be there!

Whats the best and easiest way for the fans get more info about Centurions Ghost and/or buy your CDs and T-Shirts?

Rich: As I mentioned before we are in the process of building a new website which will include a paypal shop so all our merch, CDs and band info will be available on there. Also check out our myspace site www.myspace.com/centurionsghost. Or just give us an email, wed love to hear from you guys!

Thanks for your answers & keep up the great work!! Hope to see you live on stage soon!! All the best, TOBI

Rich: Thanks Tobi, hopefully we can lock horns over a few beers soon dude. Rich

Questions: June  2006 by Tobi
Answers: June  2006 by Filthy Rich