The Crypt Unleash New Album + an Exclusive Interview
Covering 10 languages and unique cultures throughout history, The Crypt is a wildly unique act.
The Crypt is a Wisconsin metal act that blends various extreme metal genres like black metal, death metal, and thrash to create their own distinct sound. The act just released their latest album, Lux Libera Me , which is experimental and boundary-pushing from song to song–tackling a plethora of drastically different sounds.
The Crypt utilizes strictly female vocals in languages other than English while utilizing instrumental scales that match the culture of the language being used in that track, creating intense atmospheres that seem to take you to another culture and time. Featuring an impressive list of guest musicians, Lux Libera Me showcases a wildly varied sound that utilizes a different language and musical aesthetic for each track.
The Crypt draws inspiration from various religious texts from different cultures throughout history. The entire album has a positive and uplifting theme, working with ideas of strength, conviction, and independence.
After listening to the first few tracks of the album, any listener will quickly discover that The Crypt is not your ordinary metal band, and metal fans will enjoy their incredibly unique and versatile sound. From soaring female vocals to world music to the hard-hitting guitar leads, The Crypt has something for every type of listener and will take you on a journey through different civilizations and times throughout their album Lux Libera Me.
You can stream the full album out now on Bandcamp! Keep reading to check out our exclusive interview with The Crypt below!
The Crypt (DC)
The Crypt Exclusive Interview:
- How would you describe your music?
“I would describe it as "progressive dark metal," in the sense that it's always got a real sense of darkness. Though we typically play something like death metal with a bunch of thrash influences, we've put out several albums which are nearly not metal at all--such as the acoustic Embers of Limerance or the ambient/progressive Рудий Лiс (Rudyy Lis, or Red Forest in English--which was supposed to be the soundtrack to a porno set in our homeland!). We often have strange time signatures and use weird scales, so the term "progressive" also applies.”
- What are the band’s biggest influences?
“For me it's Morbid Angel, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, and Dissection...among many, many others. Our guitarist/keyboardist Adam shares my love for old prog and hard rock, so you can add King Crimson, Genesis, Yes, Eloy, and Camel to that, as well as some jazz and classical.”
- What is the new album about, and what does it mean to you?
“Lux Libera Me is a more "positive" take on similar themes about which we also scream/growl/sing: independence, freedom, inner strength, conviction, and faith. While it may sound overly "jolly" on paper, there's plenty of darkness and melancholy to keep listeners happy...I wanted to do something really bizarre, and use a bunch of different languages I don't know (except for Portuguese and a little Georgian). I also wanted to use solely female vocals, so I found 10 of the most talented women I could.”
- How did The Crypt Form?
“The Crypt formed in summer 1998, after my previous band, Cryptic, fell apart. I was really focused on making dark, heavy music, and being the only metal head (especially into underground stuff) in my tiny ass rural community, I had to do it alone...it took a really long time to release an album properly (college, marriage, teaching, and travel ruled my life from 1999 to 2016), but now being able to work distantly with great musicians, I can make the music I've always wanted to. Apart from myself, Adam Haste (guitars/keyboards) has been with the Crypt since 2017, and I always enlist Skyler Champeau (vocals) and Dan Smrz (drums/keyboards) into any problems into which I feel they'll fit.”
- What is the story behind your band name?
“The previous name was Cryptic, so when that split up, the guitarist and drummer wanted it, so I wanted something similar--ergo the Crypt sounds like a natural successor. To me it accurately expresses the darkness and mystery we try to convey through our music. And a crypt doesn't always have to be a scary place--sometimes it's haunting, steeped in tragedy and sadness. My friend Sam Lozoff (who also played on our album Vykadish) drew up this cool logo that said "The Crypt," and I thought it would be a hell of a good band name, too. That, and my version of the Cryptic logo looked way too much like a Morbid Angel logo!”
- What does the band enjoy doing outside of music?
“I'm very into studying languages (the weirder, the better), painting pictures, deer hunting, camping (especially when it's winter--I HATE ticks and lymes disease!), walking/running a shit ton, and swimming in cold ass water. Adam is a very practical man by design--he can fix anything from the electronics on his instruments, to repair vehicles (Harley Davidson motorcycles are his passion in life). We enjoy pissing people off, but that just kind of happens on its own...”
- What is one band or artist you hope to collaborate with in the future?
“I'd say Kobi Farhi from Orphaned Land. Not only is he an awesome vocalist, he's a cool dude I know from way back in my late 90's tapetrading days. He's inspired me in more ways than just adding unusual Eastern elements to my metal--he's a model human being as well. But I'd also say either of these two local ladies, Laura Sawasko and Madison Kerley. Both have voices that give me goosebumps, and Laura plays both guitar and piano in such a beautiful, plaintive way. We already had Madison on one of our songs ("I Feel You Breath"), so I know she's talented as hell! The world desperately deserves a full length album from her, and I'd do anything on there from bass, to producing, to cleaning the studio's bathroom for her!”
- What’s next for The Crypt?
“We're mixing an ambient album entitled Beholden to None, which is the weirdest and most alienating album we've ever done--there are a few moments that may get people to throw down their headphones or fling the CD out the window of their truck. After that, I've got an instrumental album, a "metal symphony to the Great Lakes," which I'm working on, but it's a major pain in the ass...I really hope that it's worth the difficulty! I also have two albums and one EP worth of demos from the early, early Crypt days of 1998-2003, including one song from 1994 that I would like to re-record, so I'm nowhere near to running out of ideas!”
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