Ancient Ceremony

The gothic metal outfit from Germany known as Ancient Ceremony originated in the middle of 1989 when vocalist Chris Anderle joined forces with guitarist F.-J. Krebs, though the project only gained real momentum with the arrival of guitarist Dirk Wirz and drummer Christoph Mertes almost twenty-four months afterward. Frank Simon contributed on bass solely for the purpose of laying down the band's debut demo, titled Where Serpents Reign and released in 1993; the following year saw the independent release of their EP Cemetary Visions, after which the group brought in keyboardist Stefan Mueller following their contract with Cacophonous Records and put out the album Under Moonlight We Kiss in 1997. Krebs and Wirz departed before the sessions for Fallen Angel Symphony in 1999, which featured guitar work from Marc Barbian and Patrick Meyer along with bassist Jones; that same summer witnessed the exits of Mertes, Mueller, and Barbian from the band.