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July Spotlight - Kryptos

Heavy metal is truly an international phenomenon, with an appeal that transcends race, gender, class, sexual orientation (just ask Rob Halford) and any other simplistic categorization put in place to divide the masses. Often pigeonholed by it detractors as “noise for white guys” (hence the tongue-in-cheek title of Anthrax’s album “The Sound of White Noise”), the genre stands up well to such criticisms when the facts are closely inspected. Metal, to be simplistic, basically came to be as the result of adventurous English kids discovering African-American blues music and channeling its influence- at previously unheard-of (no pun intended) volume levels. Since then, metal has splintered into numerous sub-genres, with groups from as far afield as Brazil (ex: Sepultura, Angra) and Japan (Loudness, Anthem, etc.) making valued contributions.

Yes, heavy metal comes in many shapes and sizes, from all corners of the globe. For some strange reason, however, India has not been known as a hotspot for metal. But that may change, if the members of Kryptos have anything to say about it. And guitarist Nolan Lewis does.

“As far as the scene in India goes it’s pretty much shit. There really aren’t any great metal bands around here except for a few like Gruesome Malady and 3rd Sovereign. And if you’re looking for killer 80’s/ classic metal bands here you can forget it. Most bands here are too worried about whether they’re ‘cool’ or ‘hip.’”

Not so in the case of Kryptos. The band- Lewis, bassist/ vocalist Ganesh Krishnaswamy, co-guitarist Akshay “Axe” Patel and drummer Ryan Colaco- have carved out a brutal but smart style influenced by both the classic, melodic metal of the 1980’s and the raging extreme metal of today.

"We all have a lot of influences individually, says Lewis. “But as a band I'd say the most prominent influences are the classic bands like Sabbath, Priest, Maiden etc., and other great bands like Dark Tranquility, Sodom, Candlemass, and Nevermore. These were and are the bands we've always sworn by and will be for a long, long time.”

Steeped as they are in metal tradition, however, there is no mistaking a hard, modern, forward-thinking vibe to the band’s debut album, Spiral Ascent. Nearly the entire album boasts riffs, grooves, and most of all, vocal signatures that would sit comfortably on albums by today’s most adventurous extreme metal bands. But despite the more brutal elements that find their way into the Kryptos sound, a listen to songs like the epic “Forgotten Land of Ice” and “Descension” reveal real melody, as well as an almost progressive rock-ish sense of musical daring. Lewis feels that this is where the classic, melodic metal influence- not always readily apparent in their thunderous sound- really shows.

“Since we started out we've evolved a lot musically. We've concentrated more on song structures and generally trying to write good metal songs rather than going for all out heaviness, speed or technicality. That's pretty much where the influences of a Sabbath or a Priest comes into the picture because those bands had fucking great songs without having to be technical or anything like that, and that's what finally matters. We're going to try and take our songwriting to the next level on the next album and of course concentrate on belting out killer riffs and melodies.”

Yes, Kryptos are one of those metal bands that aspire to give fans what I believe the late Dimebag Darrell called “the full meal deal.” In other words, their sound relies not on any one particular musical facet, but seeks to balance a diverse but compatible range of ideas and influences. (Check out the delicate acoustic guitars, swirling sound effects, and the inexplicable sonic madness that follows on the Spiral Ascent’s closing title track.) One task that is always tough for a struggling young band without a record contract is creating a great recording of their compositions under a tight budget.

“Well the recording of the album was pretty tough,” Lewis agrees. “It was difficult to find a decent studio around here not to mention we had financial constraints as well. We went to a few studios before finally settling on Clay Kelton’s home studio right here in our hometown [Bangalore]. The recording took quite a while to complete since some of us have regular shitty jobs and were not always free, so we had to do the record bit by bit over weekends or whenever we got time off. And considering we did the entire thing on a shoestring budget we’re pretty happy with the final result.”

And you will be too, if brutal but melodic and adventurous metal is your bag. Spiral Ascent has already garnered a fair share of satisfied customers from as far afield as Australia, Germany and Sweden, and has garnered several distribution deals, perhaps most notably with The End Records’ Omega mail order service. Vivid cover art by Dark Tranquility’s Niklas Sundin completes the package. Lewis says that the album is indicative of what can be expected from Kryptos in the future- with some improvements and minor retooling, but no major change in the band’s core sound.

“We all love our metal as well as our booze and that's pretty much how we decided that this is what we want to do,” he says. “Right now we feel like we've definitely got our own sound going and we're just going to take it as far as possible.”