Interview by Geno McGahee
I’m always on the lookout for some new music and came across the band CRYPITUS, a band with some serious metal sound. The band formed in 2015 and is based out of Vermont. They have traveled the roads, earned a following and have big plans for the future.
Scared Stiff had a chance to sit down and speak with the band and see what they had going on and what to expect in the near future…
GM: Can you introduce yourself to the public? How would you describe your band, your style, your message?
Zach: Hi I’m Zach. I play drums for Crypitus. We’re a unique group of individuals with our own special style of groovy strange metal. My message is to smile more.
Pete: I’m Pete I play guitar. We play a good mix of thrashy progressive groovy metal.
Joe: I’m Joe and I play bass. We play a blend of prog and thrash metal.
Doug: I’m Doug, I do vocals and guitar for the Vermont metal band Crypitus. Stylistically we try to be something a bit different but heavily influenced by thrash and progressive metal music. Our message is a warning of dystopia; an examination of currently plagues to man.
GM: What got you into music?
Zach: My father was a metal head when I was growing up. I used to bang my head off my car seat to the music. I also had a drum set made up of phone books and pots and pans before I was out of diapers. I guess it’s in my blood.
Pete: I’ve always been into music since I was a little kid.
Joe: I’ve always loved music. My parents had a good taste in music when I grew up so that helped.
Doug: Music has literally always been there for me. Anytime I required an escape from reality for as far as I can remember music was there.
GM: What musicians/bands were your inspirations?
Zach: The first time I heard Between the Buried and Me it changed my life. Blake Richardson is my ultimate role model.
Pete: Mastodon got me into more metal stuff when I was in high school. Recently I like Between the Buried and Me and Intervals as influences but I’ve been finding myself listening to older stuff like Frank Zappa a lot.
Joe: Metallica got me into metal and learn guitar at first. Now proggy stuff like Animals as Leaders and stuff with good bass like Primus inspires me.
Doug: I’m heavily influenced by thrash metal like Exodus, Megadeth, Testament and more but I extend my palette to progressive metal like Cynic, Scale the Summit, Blotted Science to bands like Dissection and Death.
GM: Talk about your latest album. What should the public expect?
Zach: It makes me wet. I bust my jewels playing the album and always need a dry shirt after. It’s really high energy and complicated.
Pete: Our album is a good expression of what we’ve been doing for the past almost 4 years we’ve been a band. There’s some older songs and some newer ones on it. Thunder is my favorite track. It’s fast and technical and groovy too.
Doug: “Ill World (That’s What You Get)” is substantial for the band in many ways. First being our first album I think it really helps define our sound. These sounds we have played for ears and having tangible evidence of our work is even sweeter. The album is six tracks featuring one instrumental tune, called Symphony #1 being the oldest song originally composed in 2011. It has hints of death metal, thrashing riffs, progressive style drumming and more, please check it out.
GM: What has been the best experience you’ve had being in the business?
Zach: We’ve met a lot of amazing people while on the road. My best experience in the business is all of the humble folks that we now call friends that offer us a place to stay and food while we travel.
Pete: Any time I get to play in front of people is a blast. I’ve also made some really good friends along the way too.
Joe: Meeting cool new people, awesome bands, and seeing new places.
Doug: The best experience, that’s tough! Every day bring better experiences we have played some amazing shows in New England but it feels the fun is just beginning!
GM: What has been the worst experience you’ve had?
Zach: We played a couple of rough shows with some serious equipment malfunction. It was embarrassing.
Pete: There’s been some difficult sets we’ve played. Either being drunk on stage or having equipment problems have caused me to have a bad set.
Doug: There’s nothing worse than bad bad promoters, and there is plenty of them but people seem to be mostly genuine and make it worth is for you in case of a floppy gig. One time we had a promoter for a gig which was completely empty besides bands play not expecting any in compensation for the door but the gentleman pulled a complete 180 and says we owe him 20 bucks a member for planning; that ended up with a heated back and forth and a good lesson to check your promoters credibility.
GM: With the changing mediums in the distribution of music, how difficult is it to make a living in the business?
Zach: Unless you are big like Metallica or playing 2 paid gigs a night as a session musician, I’d say it’s impossible. Even if people do want to listen to your music they can do it for free on YouTube and Spotify only pays a fraction of a cent for every so many views. I’m in it to have a good time.
Pete: It’s pretty impossible now unless you completely sell out. I just love playing music.
Joe: No idea, I just play for fun.
Doug: It hurts the business overall we rely more on merchandise sales than online downloads of our music.
GM: Any final thoughts?
Zach: Always keep a jar of marbles. Keep them safe. Don’t lose your marbles.
Pete: We have a few shows left this year before our winter break but we’re playing with Exmortus on December 2nd so that’s exciting.
Doug: Support your local artists!
BUY OUR NEW ALBUM HERE:
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