Interview with death metal band from United Kingdom - CRYPTWORM.
Translated Duzl, thank you!
Question prepared Jakub Asphyx.
Recenze/review - CRYPTWORM - Spewing Mephitic Putridity (2022):
https://www.deadlystormzine.com/2022/03/recenzereview-cryptworm-spewing.html
Ave CRYPTWORM! Greetings to catacombs! First, let me express my appreciation to you. I follow your band since 2017 since you released your first demo “Cryptworm” and you belong to my most favorite bands. Here in the Czech Republic, you are not very known, but this is a very small country with a tiny underground community. How exactly the CRYPTWORM was founded?
Thanks for your kind words and thanks for having us! CRYPTWORM was founded in 2014 when I decided to move to the UK. We had a mutual friend who when I told him about my plans suggested Joe to form a band with since were also living in Bristol. We contacted online and decided to put together some gross death metal band. We shared the same ideas and attitude so we didn’t have any issues to figure out what sort of death metal we want to play. However it took some time to morph into the band what we are now.
Recently you released the new record „Spewing Mephitic Putridity“, which is again full of pure real death metal. With which feelings did you enter to the studio? For example, did you have a plan, where and how do you want to move from the last album? In my opinion, the new record seems to be darker and at the same time colder. I have to admit that the atmosphere of the whole album literally captivated me.
We didn’t really plan ahead anything. We knew we will do the same recipe like before which is leaving all the mistakes and not editing anything to make it feel like more live production. I had to sacrifice the ultra dirty guitar sound from ‘Reeking…’ in order to make these DEMILICH inspired riffs more enjoyable hence the darker and colder atmosphere.
Árpád Szenti took care of the mix and mastering of the album again. Why exactly him? Generally, the sound is great, it reminds me of the old records from the nineties. Was this a purpose?
Árpád is a good friend of mine who I know for almost 20 years now. We played in bands before, been on tours together etc. He doesn’t have all the hi-end gear like most of the dedicated producers but he understands what we want to achieve and doesn’t mind doing 50 different mixes until we are happy. It wasn’t intentional to make it sound like that it’s from the early 90’s but we did want to leave all the mistakes in it and also didn’t want to use metronome or triggers for the drums which makes it sound like that it’s a lost recording from the early 90’s.
I pay a lot of attention to the graphical part of the CD. Who is the author of the monster on the new record „Spewing Mephitic Putridity“ and what is it supposed to express? I really like the motif, just please tell us how it relates to the music, how they are thematically interconnected?
Skadvaldur painted the cover. I followed his work for a while now and I already had a vision way before we started writing the full length that if we ever gonna have a full album then we are going to need a colorful painting and he is the right man for job. He was influnced by the 70’s and 80’s horror movie posters. He showed me a couple of them as reference and of course I was immediately hooked. I explained him what the album title is all about and since he also has a twisted mind he managed to nail the cover. It’s basically about a swamp of corpses who are vomiting their rotting innards. The title „Spewing Mephitic Putridity“ was inspired by „Scream Bloody Gore“ by the way. I’m a huge fan of DEATH and it’s a sort of homage to them.
I would be interested in the process of how the new songs of the CRYPTWORM are created. Are you like traditional musicians who are closed in a rehearsal room and simply play, or do you use modern technology and send ideas to each other on the internet? Do you go for a beer together?
It’s kind of both worlds. I usually write all the riffs and putting the songs together with programmed drums but then we work on the songs together at the rehearsal and sometimes we completely dissect and change the songs. We both live far away from the rehearsal space so we can’t go and have a beer after the rehearsals sadly. It was our ritual back in Hungary. Sometimes we spent more time in the pub afterwards then at the rehearsal.
You are experienced dogs who play in their own way. You have your own handwriting, which is something that is sometimes forgotten today. A lot of bands just sound like copies of others. I am sure that you had some idols. Who influenced you as a musician and who was your main idol? When and how did you actually start to play? What was the first impulse to grab the musical instrument?
My main idol was Dimebag Darrel back than but Kerry King is the reason why I got into extreme music and started playing guitar. When I was a skateboarder back in 2002 I listened to all these trendy calipunk bands like SUM41 and they have a music video with Kerry King. I looked him up and their recent music video “Bloodline” came up. I got addicted to it immediately which never ever happened to me before with music. Shortly after I got my first guitar and the rest is history.
I think the biggest reward for each band is the reaction of the fans. I like smaller clubs, where musicians and fans are close to each other. How often does CRYPTWORM perform? Do you go on tour sometimes, for example? I made a search on the internet and I didn't find too many live videos from your performance. How about CRYPTWORM and concerts? How about a tour in Europe? I would love that.
We would love that too but the pandemic messed everything up. We planned to do a one/two weeks longs tour in Europe originally when “Reeking…” came out, but we couldn’t even plan it because of covid. We don’t play very often and we never had a tour before. We supported some pretty cool acts like SPECTRAL VOICE, UNDERGANG and ANATOMIA. We hope to get back to play live again towards the end of this year. In the meantime we keep ourselves busy with writing the second full length.
I've always wondered which kind of music do musicians actually listen to. Do you have any albums that you like to listen to again and again? And what about some new records from recent years? Did some record impress you enough to buy a CD?
I have an endless list of music which I like to listen every now and again. One of them is the self-titled ASPHYX album. I think it’s phenomenal but people don’t give it enough credit because the vocals are not like van Drunen’s. The other is “Formulas Fatal to the Flesh” by MORBID ANGEL. Again, most people only like just “Gateways…” from the Trucker era but I think this is an absolute savage album. DISMA’s full length is also a timeless classic for me. I listen to a lot of new bands mainly from the American scene. Last year’s favorites for me were MALIGNANT ALTAR, CEREBRAL ROT, SANGUISUGABOGG, FROZEN SOUL and the new CANNIBAL CORPSE as well.
Death metal is my favorite musical style. I am mainly fascinated by its darkness, or by a dusty smell from old graves. However, strength and pressure are also important. When I listen to a good record, I'm literally full of energy. What does death metal mean for you? How does it affect your life, your view of the world, how do you perceive death metal as a musician/composer/author?
Death metal is my favorite genre as well by far for the same reasons. There is just something about it which I’m completely obsessed. Like the raw, in your face productions. The heavy guitar and bass tones, the savage drumming and the brutal vocals. It blends the brutality with some sort of obscure atmosphere which I’m really fond of.
Thank you very much for the interview! I wish not only to the new album „Spewing Mephitic Putridity“, but also to the whole band CRYPTWORM a lot of success. I'm going to listen to the album again! It's really great. Additionally, I wish you good luck also in your personal lives.
Thank you again for having us and thanks for the inspiring words! All the best for you too mate!
Recenze/review - CRYPTWORM - Spewing Mephitic Putridity (2022):
Recenze/review - CRYPTWORM - Reeking Gunk of Abhorrence (2020):
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