Chris: Well, it's not a big deal to me, I think. I was always interested in various styles of Metal. And DD and Stephan think the same. It could happen, that I’m listening to Garmarna and New Model Army and in the next minute to Asphyx, Primus or Funeral... Nothing strange about that for me...

How did your comrades in Midnattsol react to the idea of you forming another band?

Chris: Well, they appreciated it. Most of the Midnattsol members have side projects. Chris and Birgit just started a band called RIP (Raw Intense Power), so we all are very open minded.

Ultimately, what lead to forming Ahab, a Funeral Doom Metal band? Why the genre of Funeral Doom as opposed to Death Metal or Grindcore?

Chris: Because I was bored with the youngest Death Metal stuff. It's technical, faster, no grooves, nothing new. I think modern Death Metal bands lack melodies like we had with Override of The Overture (Dismember), The Rack (Asphyx), most early Entombed songs or almost all of Gorefest's stuff. I was also bored by most of the younger Black Metal stuff. Emperor had nothing more to say than extremely progressive stuff and so on. So I turned to folk (like Moonsorrow) and discovered funeral and extreme doom...

I’ve had the opportunity to listen to your debut full length “The Call of the Wretched Seas”, which coincidentally happens to be a concept album based around Melville’s classic Moby Dick. What fascinated you so about this book as opposed to other classics?

Chris: It was when I read the book “Moby Dick” when I was looking for a name for my funeral doom project. As I read the name Ahab few times I realized it’d fit perfectly for a doom band. That was also the point when I understood that even the concept about the story of Moby Dick would fit as well perfectly. The music at first was really raw (The Stream written by DD). When DD and me joined we did something more epic and melodic. That was when our demo The Oath and songs like Ahab’s Oath and The Hunt developed and our unique style was set. Our music isn't much of the old funeral doom style (like Thergothon, Skepticism and so on) but it's more a new kind of funeral doom. We call it Nautik Funeral Doom... There are only few bands who've had any impact on our music...

Given the fact that the disc is a concept album was it a long a treacherous journey writing and recording the album? Or was it fairly easy given your knowledge of the story?

Well, it flew quite easily out of us. So we didn’t think too much about how it would have to sound. We just knew what we could take and what probably wouldn’t fit. It’s hard to describe...

How would you rate the fan reaction so far to The Call of the Wretched Seas? Is it everything you thought it would be?

Chris: We never thought it would be received that well. I mean you have to think that it’s an extremely underground genre. So we were a bit overwhelmed by the reviews and the fans who are very supportive and loyal.

Is Ahab a band that will be doing a lot of touring and if so, do you think you’ll play the entire “Wretched Seas” album in one setting with live props to match, making the whole experience more tantalizing for your fans?

Chris: Well, I actually am not a big fan of touring when it comes to Ahab. But if we got the chance I would agree to a support tour with a fitting band, there are only few of them.

What would the ideal touring package be for Ahab given the fact that it’s not your everyday Music?

Chris: I’d say we could support a band like My Dying Bride or a smaller band like Swallow The Sun. But I think that’s about it.

Now that “Wretched Sea” has been recorded, packaged and released what is next on Ahab’s agenda? Can we expect another concept album based on another classic novel?

Chris: We recently re-released our demo on vinyl. It sold out in a day and a half. At the moment we plan on doing a vinyl edition of The Call Of The Wretched sea and we just started to record our second album. And yes you can expect another classic story. We’ll keep you informed on www.myspace.com/ahabdoom and www.ahab-doom.de

One last question for our readers. I’m completely of the opinion that the novel of Moby Dick inspired you most in the making of “Wretched Sea” and that’s great but are there any bands out there that you’d say inspired you a great deal too? Or did it all come from Melville and a sincere desire to compose a brutal doom album?

Chris: Of course we didn’t invent funeral doom so we have to thank the bands that came first. But I think we managed to do something original within the scene. So I hope nobody sees us as just copycats. :-)

It’s been a great pleasure to speak with you about the band and the album. It was a stellar effort and I hope to hear a lot more from Ahab in the coming future!

Chris: Thanx for the opportunity! Take care!