INTERVIEW: Progressive/Technical Metal Band - CRYPTED
1. Vanakam Crypted! Metal Wani welcomes you! Chennai has witnessed a lot of Crypted during these past 3 three years and you have become one of the most popular bands, especially after wrapping up big events like Saarang. How has it been so far? We would like you to share your feelings with us.
Siva: Vanakam! And thank you! Chennai has been so supportive for us as a band. We've seen a lot of new metal heads in the last year and it feels like there has been some good things coming around. Huge support from all our families and in particular, Vishnu's (the drummer)parents.. Their house is the Crypted headquarters.. Has always been. Played a couple of times to Bangalore and Hyderabad and those gigs turned out to be pretty killer as well. Trying to just have fun on stage. Saarang felt like a good pat on the shoulder.. So yea! Things are smooth
2. Initially, when you started off in January 2009, you were a thrash metal band following steps of bands like Metallica, Slayer and Pantera. But you soon evolved in to a technical death metal band. How did this happen?
Siva: We played a lot of thrash metal in our early days.. Covered Kreator and Slayer stuff. But then, we started listening to some newer bands like Decapitated and Bloodbath and naturally it influenced our approach to metal as well. It wasn’t like one day we just said “Hey guys, we are going to technical death from now on”. It was kind of a gradual change that was bound to happen I guess. Everyone evolves from what they were playing initially
3. Crypted started off as a four piece band, consisting of Arvind, Jayaram, Avinash and Vishnu. The band went through many line-up changes during this time. How did you tackle with this and what effect did it bring on band’s genre?
Siva: Yea, initially the line was quite different. I wasn’t even in the band that time. Arvind was on bass and vocals, Avinash and Kj playing guitars, Vishnu on drums. Then after I joined in, Arvind took on bass and Avinash moved to bass. This 5 piece line up was for a very short time though. Kj left the band because he didn’t find time and we were a 4 piece again. After a year or so, Arvind and Avinash left to the US. So Pranav came in to replace Arvind and Avinash brother Adarsh took up bass and yea, that’s what we are at the moment.Sound-wise, the last song Arvind wrote for the band was Flesh Eater and it was quite different from other songs. This was a bit more death metal sounding and we were getting used to that sound as well. That sound kind of caught with us and our playing style
4. The band received a pretty good response for the E.P, ‘Equilibrium’. How do you feel about it? Are we looking at an even more cult full length album ahead of us?
Siva: The E.P was good fun. Recording and stuff was pretty new to us and was a good learning experience to be honest. Got some good reviews about the song writing and how it sounds. We recorded everything in-house. Siddarth Nair, a good friend of ours helped us out back then. Cult Album?.. maybe later this year. We’re looking to play in some territory we haven’t yet played at before putting out an album. Mumbai and Delhi etc are on the list.. lets see how that goes..
5. ‘Equilibrium’ is dedicated to the Indian lord of destruction, Shiva. How did that come up in your mind?
Siva: No Idea. We were just writing our songs. Didn’t plan any theme as such while writing them. But after we finished them, we could see some kind of a theme weaving around it along the way. So, it just happened. We weren’t looking to be a vedic metal band or anything. In-fact, the song we’ve written after the EP have nothing in common in the theme section.
6. When it comes to compositions, who is the one doing all the composing and song-writing for the band?
Siva: Pranav gets the basic riffs done. We get it on Gp5. Listen to it a few times. Make our individual parts. Jam it out. Fine tune it here and there, you know, the usual things.
7. What’s your take on the metal scene in Chennai? How is different from the scene all over the country?
Siva: Chennai scene is Crypted’s cradle. We’ve had incredible support from the metalheads in Chennai. We see a lot of new people in each show and it kinda feels like the metalhead base is slowly growing. The scene is just like any other city. Gigs don’t happen as frequent as other cities though, but that scene is slowly changing as well. It would be killer if more outside bands played in Chennai and Chennai bands played more in outside cities.
8. We all know that Crypted has been mainly influenced by bands like Death, Decapitated, Meshuggah, etc. But what are bands in India which really gave you the inspiration to enter the music industry?
Siva: We listen to a lot of Indian bands, we aren’t influenced by any particular band nor are we too keen on the old school or new age debates. Good music is Good music. We dig a lot of killer bands here in India. Escher’s knot are our brothers from the Chennai Scene. Eccentric Pendulum, Shock Therapy, Undying Inc, Scribe, Infernal Wrath, Existence Failed, all killer bands.. We like a lot of non-metal bands as well.. Family Cheese are an insane band! Bevar Sea, Indigo Children, Bicycle days, Totem are all on the list. Hoping to see a lot of these bands getting into the international scene soon.
9. Crypted was supposed to open for the mighty Nile, one band from the roots of your genre, but unfortunately the gig got cancelled. How is everyone taking the disappointment on them?
Siva: Shit happens. We’re doing fine actually. I mean, we were disappointed and all but we aren’t sitting around whining about it. Looking to play some big stages sooner or later and it’ll happen when it does.
10. So, where is Crypted headed to?
Siva: Hopefully a new album later this year. Play gigs in some new territory. Staying Metal and orchestrating circle pits.
11. Thank you very much for having this enlightening conversation with Metal Wani. We all love you and wish all the best for future. Rhumba Nandri! Stay Metal! \m/
Siva: Thanks Guys!. Go to your neighborhood Gigs children. That’s where the real scene is. Facebook is just for updates. Check our Facebook Page for updates on our future gigs. Cheers!
Siva: Vanakam! And thank you! Chennai has been so supportive for us as a band. We've seen a lot of new metal heads in the last year and it feels like there has been some good things coming around. Huge support from all our families and in particular, Vishnu's (the drummer)parents.. Their house is the Crypted headquarters.. Has always been. Played a couple of times to Bangalore and Hyderabad and those gigs turned out to be pretty killer as well. Trying to just have fun on stage. Saarang felt like a good pat on the shoulder.. So yea! Things are smooth
2. Initially, when you started off in January 2009, you were a thrash metal band following steps of bands like Metallica, Slayer and Pantera. But you soon evolved in to a technical death metal band. How did this happen?
Siva: We played a lot of thrash metal in our early days.. Covered Kreator and Slayer stuff. But then, we started listening to some newer bands like Decapitated and Bloodbath and naturally it influenced our approach to metal as well. It wasn’t like one day we just said “Hey guys, we are going to technical death from now on”. It was kind of a gradual change that was bound to happen I guess. Everyone evolves from what they were playing initially
3. Crypted started off as a four piece band, consisting of Arvind, Jayaram, Avinash and Vishnu. The band went through many line-up changes during this time. How did you tackle with this and what effect did it bring on band’s genre?
4. The band received a pretty good response for the E.P, ‘Equilibrium’. How do you feel about it? Are we looking at an even more cult full length album ahead of us?
Siva: The E.P was good fun. Recording and stuff was pretty new to us and was a good learning experience to be honest. Got some good reviews about the song writing and how it sounds. We recorded everything in-house. Siddarth Nair, a good friend of ours helped us out back then. Cult Album?.. maybe later this year. We’re looking to play in some territory we haven’t yet played at before putting out an album. Mumbai and Delhi etc are on the list.. lets see how that goes..
5. ‘Equilibrium’ is dedicated to the Indian lord of destruction, Shiva. How did that come up in your mind?
Siva: No Idea. We were just writing our songs. Didn’t plan any theme as such while writing them. But after we finished them, we could see some kind of a theme weaving around it along the way. So, it just happened. We weren’t looking to be a vedic metal band or anything. In-fact, the song we’ve written after the EP have nothing in common in the theme section.
Siva: Pranav gets the basic riffs done. We get it on Gp5. Listen to it a few times. Make our individual parts. Jam it out. Fine tune it here and there, you know, the usual things.
7. What’s your take on the metal scene in Chennai? How is different from the scene all over the country?
Siva: Chennai scene is Crypted’s cradle. We’ve had incredible support from the metalheads in Chennai. We see a lot of new people in each show and it kinda feels like the metalhead base is slowly growing. The scene is just like any other city. Gigs don’t happen as frequent as other cities though, but that scene is slowly changing as well. It would be killer if more outside bands played in Chennai and Chennai bands played more in outside cities.
8. We all know that Crypted has been mainly influenced by bands like Death, Decapitated, Meshuggah, etc. But what are bands in India which really gave you the inspiration to enter the music industry?
Siva: We listen to a lot of Indian bands, we aren’t influenced by any particular band nor are we too keen on the old school or new age debates. Good music is Good music. We dig a lot of killer bands here in India. Escher’s knot are our brothers from the Chennai Scene. Eccentric Pendulum, Shock Therapy, Undying Inc, Scribe, Infernal Wrath, Existence Failed, all killer bands.. We like a lot of non-metal bands as well.. Family Cheese are an insane band! Bevar Sea, Indigo Children, Bicycle days, Totem are all on the list. Hoping to see a lot of these bands getting into the international scene soon.
Siva: Shit happens. We’re doing fine actually. I mean, we were disappointed and all but we aren’t sitting around whining about it. Looking to play some big stages sooner or later and it’ll happen when it does.
10. So, where is Crypted headed to?
Siva: Hopefully a new album later this year. Play gigs in some new territory. Staying Metal and orchestrating circle pits.
11. Thank you very much for having this enlightening conversation with Metal Wani. We all love you and wish all the best for future. Rhumba Nandri! Stay Metal! \m/
Siva: Thanks Guys!. Go to your neighborhood Gigs children. That’s where the real scene is. Facebook is just for updates. Check our Facebook Page for updates on our future gigs. Cheers!
Read Kryptos Interview Here
Read Bevar Sea Interview Here
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Interviewed By,
Varun Khatri
