First of all, I would like to thank you for your time. Would you be able to give a brief history of INTERITUS DEI for our readers who aren’t familiar with you?

Bogdan: INTERITUS DEI was founded in 1994 in Constanta – Romania. After a few years and a couple of LPs, we became one of the most popular Metal bands in Romania. This would be the briefest history that we ever told… And the history goes on…

It’s been four years since the last album. What’s in INTERITUS DEI’s future?

Bogdan: Right now, we are working on our next LP and we negotiate a possible contract with a German booking agency.

Is there a mastermind behind the writing process or is it a group effort? Speaking of which, what is the genesis of an INTERITUS DEI song like?

Bogdan: No… It’s all about the team effort, so an I.D. song is born after long hours of hard working. We start with a basic idea and then we start building the song. However, it takes more than just one session to reach the definitive shape of a song. Sometimes it takes weeks… It’s not a recipe.

Do all the band members share a similar taste in music or do they all bring different styles and influences to the table?

Ruhan: Everybody listen whatever he likes and this is in the benefit of I.D.’s music.

INTERITUS DEI seems to fit in many genres—Doom, Gothic, some songs even sound Progressive to these ears. How important are genres to you? That is, is it important to you to aim for a song in a particular style or to be able to classify your style as a particular genre?

Ruhan: No. We just write a song, we sing it and let the public and the media to decide how to fit it in a particular style.

I’ve always wondered, with such a diverse sound, what are your influences?

Ruhan: There are so many, that we ceased counting all the influences…

Do the band members have any side projects?

Bogdan: We used to… A couple of years ago, I had a side project, called MYSTERIA and another one, called GOLEM, an industrial project, with Ruhan Terente, one of the two guitarists of INTERITUS DEI. Right now, we prefer to focus on I.D.

What are your goals as a band?

Bogdan: Worldwide success and after that, we’ll say: “That’s all folks!”

What are your thoughts on the international Metal scene? Is it important to stay “True,” “kvlt,” or any of those other criteria or should we just worry more about the music?

Ruhan: I think that right now, the international Metal scene is more oriented on the light gothic and industrial zone. It’s not bad, actually it could be a new wave of Metal, but I must say I miss the true golden days of Metal…

I’ve read that ancient traditions and pre-Christian religion figures prominently into the INTERITUS DEI lyrics. Are these beliefs important to you personally (and on what level—history/heritage or dogma?) or are they just something fun to sing about?

Bogdan: Something fun to sing about? Are you joking? No... Actually it’s a matter of heritage. We live in an area where the ancient history is very well defined. For your information, Constanta is one of the oldest cities in this part of Europe (about 2700 years). So… What do you think? It’s something serious or is just something fun to sing about?

Have you had the opportunity to tour outside of Romania? If so, where is your favorite place to play?

Ruhan: Yes, we have and our favorite place is Dortmund, Germany.

For those of us who haven’t had a chance to see you play live, what’s an INTERITUS DEI show like?

Ruhan: That’s a reason to be there… We never talked about it because we want to make the public curious in order to come and see our shows.

I’m sure you get this question all the time, but how’s the Metal scene in Romania? Is there much fan support or many other bands?

Bogdan: There are both fan support and bands. Unfortunately, there aren’t so much metal producers.

If it’s not too personal, what’s one of your best experiences as a band? One of your worst?

Bogdan: Best experience: Gig with PARADISE LOST on October 8-th 2005, in Bucharest.

Worst experience: never had such experience and we hope we’ll never have.

Along the lines of the previous question, is there anything in your career you’d do differently knowing what you know now?

Ruhan: We don’t think that we would do anything different. If that it was supposed to happen… that it was supposed to happen.

I know I like to hear about my favorite musicians as real people, so I figure other people out there like it to. When not playing in INTERITUS DEI, what do you guys occupy yourselves with?

Bogdan: Ruhan works in a media trust, Cristi is a sport reporter for a national newspaper, Adi is an architect, Metin works in Constanta shipyard and I work in advertising.

If we were to look at your CD player now, what would we find you listening to?

Bogdan: Rammstein.

Ruhan: Black Label Society.

It’s always good to hear a musician’s point of view on the subject of CD burning, music piracy, MP3s, etc. What’s your take on these activities?

Bogdan: You cannot control the internet piracy. It’s sad… But true…

What would you like to tell somebody who has never heard of INTERITUS DEI?

Ruhan: If you are deaf, listen to I.D.! If you are blind, come to see one of our shows! After that, you’ll be healed… If you survive…

Thank you again for your time. Is there anything else you’d like to say to our readers?

Bogdan: If one day you’ll wake up dead, it means that I.D. was in your town…